TMttF's First Attempt
by Tsubasa Kya
Summary: The first attempt at Tie Me to the Future that I am currently engrossed in writing. Read it or don't. There is no intention on completing it, but all chapters are posted. Personally I prefer the better TMttF.
1. First Chapter

**Title: TMttF's First Attempt  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. _

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**This is TMttF's first attempt, I will not be completing it, I just felt like sharing my failures. I will post what I have, no more. **

Yusuke sat up on the roof of his school, skipping class. Just the week before, he'd spent rescuing a chick that cried some sort of jewel. He just didn't understand it. How could a guy like Hiei have such a nice girl like Yukina for a sister?

And why did Hiei not want Yukina to know who he was? Then he'd gone and kicked the tar out of some four demons in some weird palace thing. After that, he'd gone to fight the Toguro brothers at a tournament and barely won, but he'd also lost because his mentor, Genkai, had died.

"Well, I'd be ashamed too, if Hiei were my brother." Yusuke thought aloud, groaning as he turned onto his side. He was sore all over. Hiei had beaten him up the day before when Yusuke had threatened to tell Yukina.

'You tell her, I'll kill you.' He had said, accentuating this with a few punches and kicks to Yusuke's various body parts.

He had been stronger in that moment than he had ever been when Yusuke had fought him in the warehouse. He couldn't even move right now without being in pain.

"Even when you are alone, you talk about me!" Hiei's voice pierced Yusuke's thoughts, echoing in Yusuke's head before he realized someone was near him.

He sat up quickly when he realized Hiei was there. "What do you want Hiei?" He asked, annoyed and trying not to wince with the strong jolt his many aches gave him.

"It isn't what 'I' want, grease-head. It's Koenma. He wants to see you, immediately."

"Damn it!" Yusuke swore, standing up and wincing. He was unable to stop himself before he winced that time and Hiei smirked. "Shut up, shrimp."

"Make me." Hiei quipped.

Yusuke raised his fist in Hiei's face limply. "Alright, I will!"

Hiei rolled his eyes. He could hardly believe that the wimpy human in front of him contained as much power as he did. He would never deal with Yusuke if Yusuke had not gained his respect by beating him in battle. "Hn... sure you will." Hiei murmured, turning around, amused. He began to walk towards the portal that Botan, who had been standing by the wall in her pink kimono, holding onto her oar.

"Wait, shrimp, I'm not through with you!" Yusuke hollered, but he had already disappeared. He sighed heavily. Since yesterday, Hiei didn't seem to pay very much heed to Yusuke.

He wondered what had happened yesterday after his and Hiei's fight.

\\/\

"What do you want, toddler?" Yusuke asked, much less enthused at the moment about hearing what ever it was that Koenma had to say than any other day. His criticizing remark towards Koenma seemed less derogatory than usual too.

He hadn't gone right away to see Koenma. He had gone home first, deciding that Koenma could wait and that no one would think to look at home for him when he ran into his mother on the way into the apartment.

'Clean up the house, Yusuke, your cousins are coming over to visit, along with your aunt.' His mother had said, in a rush to get out of the apartment. 'I'm going to buy some more dish soap and vacuum bags. Get your room cleaned, and then clean the bathroom. I'll be back in a half hour.'

He couldn't understand why his mother thought he would actually clean for their aunt's visit – normally they went to visit Auntie Naomi – but when he got into the apartment, he was met with a shock. His mother's trashed up apartment was so clean, it was scary. The dishes were half done and put up to dry; the dish soap bottle, which had been full yesterday was completely gone and in the trash; there was absolutely nothing on the floor. His room and the bathroom were still very dirty, but his mother's room was completely untouched by either dust or garbage.

'Geez, mom, you must have been working all morning at this!' He had exclaimed. He figured he better do a little too, so he set to work on his room, picking up his dirty clothes and washing them; folding his clean clothes from the last washing and putting them away or else hanging them up; taking the garbage and throwing it away; picking up his manga and organizing them back on the book shelf; and making his bed. When he was done with that, his mother had come home again by then and started back on the dishes, he went and switched over his laundry and putting in another load of dirty clothes that he found in the bathroom hamper. He scrubbed the toilet and bathroom floor until his already aching muscles from the pounding Hiei gave him the day before screamed in protest and still continued on after folding his clothes and putting them away and switching the clothes in the washer to the dryer. When he was done with the floor, he scrubbed the nasty ring out of the tub and washed out the toothpaste clumps from the bathroom sink. When he finished that, he washed the mirror cabinet in the bathroom and dusted off the shelves in his room.

He wanted to cry from the agony his muscles were going through then, but he had to go see Koenma and find out what he wanted. On his way out, his mother had stopped him.

'Thanks for your help, Yusuke.' His mother said, sober for once. 'I'd like you home by six, because they'll get here at six thirty... Okay? And Grandpa is coming over too, so please, watch your tongue tonight?'

'What the fu-' a sharp look from his mother stopped him from replying like he had been about to, 'I mean, why? All grandpa does is go on and on about ancient history... He doesn't notice anything else.'

'Please, Yusuke?'

The pleading note in his mother's voice made him nod his head. 'Yeah, fine, whatever.' He had said and then left.

He had gotten home probably around one o'clock, and by the time he finished cleaning – his muscles feeling like goo – it was already four-thirty. By the time he got to the school's roof where the portal still awaited him, it was five. Normally it only took him ten minutes to get to school, but he had to force his feet to continue moving and half dragged his entire body through the portal.

So now, at five ten, he stood in front of Koenma's desk, slumped over and wishing he could just pass out right then and there. Unfortunately that would mean being unable to get home by six o'clock.

"Whoa, what's wrong with _you_?" Kuwabara asked, poking Yusuke.

To sleepy to even retaliate, Yusuke ignored Kuwabara. "I asked what you want, toddler." He muttered, tipping his head towards the ceiling trying to roll his shoulders and failing.

"I told you! But who listens to me?" Koenma cried. "Nobody!" He began to pout.

Hiei chuckled and Yusuke whirled around, blinking tired eyes. "Hiei, shut up."

"Yusuke, are you alright?" Kurama asked, hardly concerned and asking more out of curiosity than anything.

"I'm fine." Yusuke said irritably. "Koenma, just say whatever it is you have to say." He said, looking at his watch, which read five forty nine. "I've got to be home in eleven minutes, so make it quick." He wasn't sure how the time went from five ten to five forty nine in the blink of an eye. He was sure that just a second ago it was five ten.

Yusuke's forehead began burning up as he listened to Koenma, and he felt literally on the verge of collapse, his breath coming up short. In the end, he began to forget everything that Koenma said just seconds after Koenma said it, and remembering what was said in the beginning of the briefing was like trying to remember what food tasted like when you were in your mother's womb.

Finally he grumbled and turned towards the door. "Catch me at another time, Koenma." He said, checking his watch. It was six o'five. He was late for getting home. "I have t...to go home to... um..." He tried to remember what he was going home for, recalling at just the last moment, "Oh shit!" He said, sounding like his normal self, but not looking like it. His voice, full of anger, didn't match the tiredness in his face, or his blood shot eyes or very pink cheeks or slumped shoulders. He hurried as fast as he could out of the room, which wasn't very fast at all. Turtles would have passed him already.

When he was finally gone, Koenma turned to Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara. "Do you think he heard a word that I said? He didn't seem to be registering it."

"He seemed very out of it," said Kuwabara, "he also looks like he's got a bit of the flu."

"Hn... Just looks like he hasn't slept for a bit to me." Hiei muttered.

Kurama laughed. "You've never been sick, have you, Hiei?"

"Of course not. I'm not weak."

"Hey! Are you implying something, shorty?" Kuwabara asked defensively.

"Glad your puny brain noticed that."

Koenma sighed. "Oh well... I'll just send Botan to go get Yusuke tomorrow afternoon." His comment went unheard as Hiei and Kuwabara got into a shouting match.

\/\/

Kagome was losing her patience with Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, I have to go home. Look, I'll be back in a week! I have tests to make up!"

Inuyasha stood between Kagome and the well, his arms crossed across his chest stubbornly. Each time she tried to go around him, he moved to stay in between her and the well. "No, we have shards to collect." He told her. His patience was also wearing thin.

"Please, Inuyasha?" She begged, appealing to him with the puppy dog eyes she knew he had a hard time resisting. Unfortunately, he didn't even look at her to know she was giving him the puppy dog eyes. "Fine! Be that way."

"So you aren't going to go back?" He asked, looking at her.

She smiled at him as her only answer.

"Great. Finally I talked some sense into you."

She let him gloat for a moment and he began to 'lead the way back'. When his back was to her, she moved quickly and jumped into the well before he could stop her. He was so shocked that she had 'lied' to him that he didn't move for a moment from his place, staring at the well's opening. He moved to go after her, standing angrily on the lip of the well looking down into its depths and debating whether or not to go in.

\/\/

Kagome sighed after she climbed out of the well. It didn't seem that Inuyasha was going to be coming after her this time, thankfully. She would be able to get a lot of studying done this weekend without his constant interrupting about the jewel shards.

She greeted her mother and then went up to her room, getting things together for her bath. She always took one right away when she got home, loving the instant hot water. It was only three o'clock in the afternoon, so she was able to get into the bath before Souta would be coming home from school, because he did have school.

After a nice long bath (and shaving her legs and arms, washing her body and her hair), she got out, changed into her pajamas, and sat down at her desk with her hair in a towel wrap so she could start her schoolwork. She thought it weird that her tooth brush was gone from the bathroom – she'd only just put it in there when she got home. When she looked at her clock, it read four thirty two. Her mother came into the room moments later, shuffling over to sit on her bed. "Kagome, dear... You had told me you would be coming home today, so I thought we might go visit Aunt Atsuko... Are you too tired to come?"

Kagome turned to look at her mother, smiling. "Too tired, mama? What, and miss the chance of seeing my relatives? I'd never miss it!" She sighed. "But what'll I wear!" She moved into fretful mode. "My school uniforms are dirty and full of blood, and I'm not sure if anything else in my closet will fit me!" She went over to her closet and started searching through it for something to wear. "No...no...not decent for a family visit..."

"Kagome, how about this, you just grab a handful of clothes that you might want to wear and we can choose from that, okay?"

"No, that's okay, but mama, half my closet is missing!" Kagome said.

"Just hurry up, dear. We have to leave by five thirty, okay? Oh, where is your little friend?"

"Who, Inuyasha? I'm guessing he stayed behind. I had thought he would come over here and bug me some more, but I guess not."

"Oh, alright then. That's good."

Mama left the room, leaving Kagome to scour through her closet. She tried to find something to wear that she liked, but couldn't. She hated all her shirts, all her skirts, all her pants, everything! Finally, she went into the emergency clothes box she kept at the bottom of her closet. She couldn't help but wonder where all her favorite clothes went, but was forced to drop the thought as she opened the box and took out her red silk tank top and the black silk skirt. The shirt had a built in bra and was supposed to be tight around the chest not the stomach. Still, it was tighter around her chest than when she had first bought it, making her giggle. She must have grown. The black skirt would easily do a three-sixty if she spun in a circle. The flip-flops that she had gotten to match her outfit had black bases with red ties.

She did her hair up into a ponytail braiding the loose part of it and even put on some make-up. For make-up she put on some dark pink eye shadow and some eyeliner, and finally some lip-gloss. She stuck her minimal amount of make-up in her purse that she was going to take. She looked at her arms in the mirror, shocked. They had muscle that had definitely not been there before she had fallen through the well so long ago. It was definitely muscle from using the bow. She'd definitely gotten better at hitting her targets that was for sure. Sango probably also contributed to the muscles because the older girl had been teaching Kagome some basic fighting techniques like throws, kicks, punches and even a bit of using a katana.

She smiled at her reflection in the mirror. She loved getting dressed up, but it did take so long to do so. It was already five fifteen.

"Kagome, are you ready?" Mama called up the stairs to her room. "We're ready to go!"

"Almost!"

"Where are you going?" Inuyasha asked from the window, looking down at the floor.

Kagome spun quickly on the balls of her feet; she hadn't realized that Inuyasha was there. "How long have you been there!" She asked, a blush coming to her cheeks.

"Since your mother asked about me. She saw me sitting here before she asked."

Kagome paled. "That means you watched me change!" She was horrified. He was so indecent!

"Relax; I turned around when you changed."

Kagome glared at him. "Well sit anyway!" He landed in a crumpled heap on the floor and she listened to him cursing for a moment. "I'm not going to be coming back with you, especially not now. I'm going to visit my cousin."

Inuyasha peeled himself from the floor. "I wasn't coming to ask you to come back!" He yelled. "Stupid! Fine! If you want to stay, you can stay! I'm going to come back to get you in one week, though, whether you're ready or not!"

He jumped out the window, landing softly on the well house roof. She glared at the spot he had just been, then turned and moved to go outside. She went down the stairs and saw her grandfather getting in the front passenger side of the vehicle. Her mother was busy shoving a bag in the trunk of the car and Souta was bouncing a racquetball on the ground, a mischievous grin on his face. Kagome went over to Souta, grinning as well.

"Thinking about something?" She asked innocently, knowing what he was up to.

The young twelve year old nodded. "Just a few things. I've got a box in the back seat; you might not want to open it."

Kagome chuckled. "Present for him, is it?"

He nodded. "I put a lot of thought into it."

"Get into the car you two." Mama said. "I've just got one more thing to get and we'll be on our way."

Kagome and Souta climbed into the back seat while mama went into the shrine and came back out with a box, which she shoved into the trunk. Finally they were on their way, everyone buckled up.

Souta and Kagome looked up at the building that their aunt lived in. It wasn't very tall – maybe only fifty stories up or so – and their aunt only lived on the forty-fifth floor. Or at least, that was what mama had said.

"They'll have elevators." Mama assured Grandpa. They were five minutes late because they had to change elevators three times.

\/\/

Yusuke stood next to his mother, waiting for the appearance of his cousins. They were in the hallway of their floor, waiting for them to emerge from the elevator. He could see that they were coming because the elevator light above the door was indicating that it was coming up.

While standing by his mother, he found his eyesight becoming blurry and barely registered the fact that his eyes were burning and watery. His face was heated and his body screamed in protest to his every movement, the pain making him dizzy. He sneezed twice, and each time he did, he felt even more congested than before.

He couldn't remember why they were waiting in the hall for a moment, and began dozing off, leaning against the wall.

"Yusuke, please!" His mother said sharply, as the elevator dinged its last stop, on the fourty-fifth floor.

Yusuke stood up quickly, wincing. The bruise on his cheek from the fight with Hiei the day before stood out against his face. He sighed and put on a smile, looking through blurry eyes at the figures that he was sure was his cousins, aunt, and grandpa.

"Hello, father. Hello Naomi!" He heard his mother greet them. "How are you, Kagome, Souta? I trust you're well?"

"Great, Aunt Atsuko." Souta beamed.

"I'm fine, Aunt Atsuko." Kagome said politely.

After the customary pleasantries were exchanged, and Yusuke grumpily said 'hello' after a deal of fuss from his mother, everyone went inside. Atsuko had spent a great deal of money to buy dinner from the deli, and while everyone visited, they ate before it got cold.

Kagome eyed her cousin during dinner. He didn't look too healthy; his skin was flushed, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was sweating heavily. He seemed to be dozing at his place at the table. He had all the signs of an over exhausted person with the flu. She'd dealt with many people just like that in the Sengoku Jidai. No doubt he was experiencing dizziness, blurry eyes, and possibly even vomiting spells if it was bad enough.

Before she could suggest that he go lay down, her mother did. "Atsuko, Yusuke looks exhausted. He needs to rest; we shouldn't be the ones to keep him here. We'll be staying the night, why don't you let him go lie down?"

Atsuko nodded. "Yusuke, go lay down." She told him, not unkindly.

Yusuke had to be told three times before he finally went and lay down, tripping on his feet twice. During clean up, Souta was pouty. "So much for my prank." He muttered to Kagome.

Kagome chuckled. "You can't do everything. Besides, you heard Mama. We'll be staying the night anyway, so you'll have tomorrow."

"Yeah, I suppose..." He agreed reluctantly.

Later that night, around nine o'clock, Kagome and Souta were sent off to bed. Souta was to be sleeping on an extra futon in Yusuke's room, along with grandpa. Each would have their own futons. Kagome and mama would sleep in Atsuko's room on extra futons.

While Kagome slept soundly, Yusuke kept Souta awake with his coughing. Each time he coughed, it sounded like something was clawing on a wooden wall.

Out in the living room, the three adults chattered quietly, catching up on times. Soon, grandpa too went to sleep, and Atsuko and Naomi were able to talk more freely.

"Atsuko, I thank you for this favor. I've already had Kagome transferred; now all there is left to do would be to tell her. I just don't think that she's able to concentrate – you know why, I've told you about it before." Naomi said her voice and face laden with the sadness she felt at making such a difficult decision. Giving up one's child was a tough choice to make.

Naomi smiled encouragingly at her sister. "Don't worry, Naomi. I'll make sure she's taken care of. And Yusuke'll take care of her too. I believe you about that well. It always gave me the creeps growing up. But from what you told me, she might not be too happy about it. She will probably worry about how she's disregarding her responsibilities. She's so much like you were."

Naomi sighed. "I hope I'm doing the right thing. But the one I'm worried about is her friend; the one who follows her through the well."

"Well, don't worry. If he comes looking for her, Yusuke'll protect her."

Naomi shook her head. "No, that's not it at all. I'm worried about how hard he'll take it when I am forced to tell him that she's not going to be coming back to him. I believe the he's fallen for her, and she him. But they are from two different time dimensions. I fear it won't work out for the two of them."

"If she was to stay in the past, then she would never be born, and she would never be able to make it to the point where she gets pulled through the well – hence she would never be able to have met the boy in the first place."

Naomi nodded sadly. "And if he was to stay in this time era, his reincarnation – if he has one – wouldn't be able to be born. It would be disastrous. And besides that, because he's so different, there are shameful people out there who would want to experiment on him if they got their hands on him. The boy doesn't deserve that – not with the sorrow I see in his eyes. He's lost so much already, or so Kagome has told me. He lost his mother at a young age, and the woman he loved was killed, but just before she died, she killed him, pinning him to the God tree with an enchanted arrow through the heart. It's sad, but I feel that this is the best way..."

Atsuko nodded. "Don't worry, Naomi. Kagome will be fine here. But eventually, she will have to go back through the well. You and I both know she will. She'll have to complete her responsibilities there, so that the ties she has to the past will be broken..."

"I know. I think about that constantly. I just hope that before she has to go back, she will find something here that will bind her to life here. As it stands, I don't think family is enough. Already, she is spending more and more time on the other side of the well. When she came back that first time, she had a terrible wound in her side. I was horrified to learn of what had happened, but she told me; she spared me no small detail. Each time, she comes back with some kind of wound; each time I nearly die to see her so hurt. And the wounds that young man gets...it's frightful. To think, that could happen to my baby girl."

"It is terrible, I know. Yesterday Yusuke came home from school and he was laden with bruises and blood. I was so worried about him. I asked what had happened, but he just shrugged me off, saying 'I got in a fight with someone over something stupid. I'm fine.'" Atsuko sighed. "He's come home before all bruised up, but usually he gloats about how he won and the other guy looked ten times worse."

"Oh, I know. It's hard for us mothers to see things like this...I know it is natural to want to protect your child; but do you think I'm going too far? I'm sending her away from something that I know in my heart she must do." Naomi dabbed her moist eyes with a tissue from the coffee table. "She's always so calm about everything when she tells me about it... but I can tell that it has changed her. Something is different about her; I just can't figure out what."

"Perhaps it is just because she's growing up?" Atsuko suggested.

Naomi shook her head, "If only I could believe that was it. There is something over on the other side of the well that she's being exposed to and it is changing her. I don't know if it is for the better, or the worse. I wish I knew."

Racking coughs from Yusuke's room brought the two women's attention to Yusuke's bedroom door, opened just a crack. As the coughs became progressively worse, the two went to Yusuke's room, flicking on the light to see blood on the edge of Yusuke's mouth, slowly running out of his mouth with his head turned to the side as it was.

"Last night he woke up vomiting." Atsuko whispered, worry tingeing her voice. "He seems to have some sort of flu bug, but he won't let me take him to the doctor."

"Atsuko, he probably wouldn't let you because that would mean admitting weakness. That was something you could never do as a child either." Naomi smiled faintly, taking the tissue she'd had in her hand and walking over to kneel by Yusuke. At her light touch, his eyes fluttered open briefly before closing again. She carefully wiped the blood from his mouth, turning his head slightly more to the side so that if he coughed some more, the blood would drip out of his mouth rather than drown him.

"He's my baby..." Atsuko whispered. "I don't know what I would do without him. When he died... I was so grief stricken. It was amazing that a year later he came to life again. For years I really thought I didn't care whether or not he lived or died, because he was just an accident. I had been careless and he was born. When he died..." Atsuko's voice caught in her throat, "I never thought I would get another chance to be a part of his life." She winced when Yusuke began coughing again, more blood dripping slowly from his mouth.

Atsuko continued, "He told the girl he liked, Keiko – who was the first person to befriend him, some things about what he did so that he could come to life again, and I was there to hear it. I had thought he was holding something back; he was. I had thought that it was because he didn't want me to hear about it. Later on, he asked me if we could talk, and he told me the whole story. I asked him why he didn't tell Keiko everything; he just replied with a shrug, saying 'I don't want her to be frightened.' After that, he had threatened me a bit, saying, 'You better not tell her, or else I'll throw you into a tub full of cold water!' He was joking of course, but since then, we have become closer than ever. He tells me all about the missions that Koenma gives him in exchange for me getting off my bum and getting a job. That was our deal."

Naomi nodded, wiped the blood from a coughing Yusuke's mouth, and stood, leading her sister out of the room. "You need to get him to the doctor, Atsuko. This could be more than the flu; you won't know until you take him to the doctor. I know that you have college classes and your work at the restaurant to deal with, which is why I'm going to get father to help pay for it." She smiled slyly at Atsuko as she closed the door. "If you have a hard time with him, just send for Keiko. She seems to have a fair hold on talking him into things, from what you've told me."

Atsuko nodded. "I will. Once you, Souta, and father have left I'll take him to the doctor. I imagine that Kagome will be upset and will want some alone time, so she'll be fine here. She'll be able to settle in and have some time to think."

"That sounds good. I just hope I'm doing the right thing..."

"Quit worrying. You'll only wear yourself out. Tomorrow I'll clean out the guest bedroom for her. It's stuffed so full with empty boxes and miscellaneous things that the only thing you can really do is open the door."

The two brushed their teeth and went to bed well after midnight. As soon as their voices had stopped drifting to his ears, Souta sighed and curled up into a ball on his futon. His sister was going to be staying with Yusuke and Atsuko. That meant he would see her even less than he did now. And that meant that he wouldn't be able to see Inuyasha anymore because he would get mad at Kagome and not come anymore to visit. Inuyasha only ever came to visit with Kagome anyway, but being able to see him for the little while that he got was fun.

He wondered if he would have to forget all about Inuyasha, since he could never see him anymore.

\/\\

Kagome woke in the morning, her skirt twisted around her legs and her tank top riding up. She groaned irritably, but made sure to be quiet about it as she stood to re-adjust her clothing. She felt dirty to be wearing the same clothes two days in a row. If she had known they were staying the night, she would have brought some extra clothes.

She looked at the clock and saw it said twelve thirty eight. She was surprised that it was so late. _I never sleep in that much!_ She thought, but grudgingly agreed to herself that she could use that much sleep. She looked around the room. Her mother wasn't sleeping still, neither was Atsuko. Of course, they're mothers, so they probably would get up early.

Kagome walked out of the room, still adjusting her tank top. Her purse, still on the island counter, called to her. She knew there was a brush in there – a tiny compact brush small enough to fit in her hand. She took her purse into the bathroom and fixed her hair, washed her face off and redid her make up. She used a little bit of Aunt Atsuko's mouthwash, so she could get rid of the grimy feel in her mouth – the unclean feel. It worked only slightly, but at least it was something. After going to the bathroom then and washing her hands, Kagome exited the bathroom, feeling minimally fresher than when she woke. Kagome went through the apartment, looking for anyone else who might be there – everyone seemed to be gone. Only Souta was still there. Atsuko, Naomi, Grandpa, and Yusuke were all gone.

Kagome went and sat next to Souta on his futon; he was just waking up. "Hey kiddo... Do you know where everyone disappeared to?"

Souta rubbed his eyes. "No." He sat up and looked at Kagome seriously, which unnerved her slightly. He'd never looked so serious towards her before. "Kagome, what would you do if mother left you here?" He had used 'mother' instead of 'mama'. Kagome knew that meant he was upset at their mother.

She smiled at him, a nineteen year old to his twelve. "I don't know, Souta. What brings this question about?" When he looked away from her as though refusing to answer, she placed her hand under his chin and forced him gently to look at her. "Souta, what brought this about?" She was startled to see that tears were sparkling in his eyes.

He hugged her tightly as though if he didn't, she would disappear. "Mother said that if you stay in the other era, time would get screwy. And she said that if Inuyasha stayed in this era, time would get screwy. So she said she was going to leave you here with Aunt Atsuko and Yusuke. She said you weren't going to come home. She said her reason was 'I'm hoping she finds something to tie herself to this time.'" He sobbed into Kagome's shoulder, but all she did was pat his back reassuringly. She didn't push him away.

"It's alright, Souta." She told him, forcing herself to be calm for him. "I bet you're worried that Inuyasha won't come see you anymore if I don't go home with you... would that be it?"

His answer both shocked her and made her laugh. "Stupid Kagome, Inuyasha isn't as important as you are! But...that is part of it, I guess."

Kagome chuckled and smoothed his sleep-tussled hair. "Don't worry, Souta. Come on... We'll go find something so that I can write a letter to Inuyasha, telling him to visit with you." As they looked in the kitchen for paper, Kagome asked, "How did you find this out?" The more she thought about it, the more the anger inside her grew.

"Yusuke kept coughing really harshly last night and I couldn't get to sleep. I couldn't help but hear mother talking with Aunt Atsuko." He seemed on the verge of crying again, and he had only just stopped.

"I see." It made sense. That was the reason her toothbrush was gone from the bathroom. That was why half of her closet was missing.

She found a piece of paper and sat down on one of the stools surrounding the island and began to compose her letter. "Inuyasha is going to come for me at the end of the week sometime, Souta. I don't think he'll be able to find me because we took the car. I'm going to give you this letter and expect that you give it to Inuyasha. Don't let mother know about it." She too reverted to saying 'mother' when she was angry.

"Okay..." Souta sniffled and wiped his nose with a napkin from the counter. "How mad do you think Inuyasha will be?"

Kagome chuckled again. "Probably mad enough to break something." _Or someone..._ She ignored that thought. "Don't let mother tell him _anything_ okay, Souta? She might twist things around so it looks like it was my choice."

"Okay."

"And don't say anything about how it was mother either. Don't say anything at all. Tell him to go back to the Sengoku Jidai and read it."

"How can I say nothing and then tell him to go back at the same time?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean." She knew that Souta was trying to cheer himself up. He laughed at her. "After he leaves, call me and tell me that you gave it to him. Alright?"

He nodded and moved to look over her shoulder at what she was writing. He saw a semblance of an incantation on it. "What's that for?" He asked, pointing to it.

"When he reads that, he'll be bound only to the shrine, which means he won't be able to go out into the city to look for me. I don't want him hurt, and there are bad people who will harm him if they got their hands on him." A tear dripped down her face and Souta wiped it away.

"Don't cry, 'Gome." He said, using his childhood nickname for her. "Everything will be alright. But what if his reading the enchantment doesn't work? Or what if it is only temporary?"

Kagome smiled grimly. "It _is _only temporary. That's the problem. He'll know it too. I have no doubt that he'll come searching for me."

"But what about the bad people?" Souta asked.

"I'll have figured out a way that he can walk through the city unnoticed by then. See, I have told him that in the letter. 'Please don't go into the city until I have contacted you. No one in this era will understand what you are and you could attract worse enemies here than in your time. I am sure you are upset that we can't go searching for shards, but I will find a way so you can come to get me without being noticed.' This should defer his first idea of leaving the shrine to search for me immediately."

"But what if he comes while I'm at school?"

"Souta," Kagome looked him in the eyes. "It is very important that he gets this from you and that mother cannot tell him anything."

Souta nodded solemnly. "I'll fake being sick." He promised.

"Thank you Souta." She dug in her purse and extracted her small wallet. From it she pulled a handful of tens, the many allowances she'd gotten over the years. "Here; use these to pay the shipping costs and send me as many of grandpa's ancient scroll books as you can. If you are able to send them all, then you can keep whatever money is left over."

"Okay..." Souta looked near tears again.

Kagome folded the completed letter and wrote another incantation right on the front.

"What's that one?"

"It's so he has to go to his era before he reads it."

"Oh."

Kagome gave the letter to Souta and he put it in his pocket. "Don't you lose that, Souta. He has to get it."

"I won't." He promised.

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**If you're wondering, this will not be completed. It's the first attempt at TMttF so I will post how much there is, but no more. **


	2. Second Chapter

**Title: TMttF's First Attempt  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. _

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**This is TMttF's first attempt, I will not be completing it, I just felt like sharing my failures. I will post what I have, no more. **

Kagome and Souta looked around the apartment for some hint as to where everyone might have gone after they had finished their talk. Tension was high, and all tension was directed at a person who wasn't even at the apartment. They found a letter directed to them from their mother on the last place they would have thought to look. On the fridge. "My precious gems" Kagome read and both snorted their disbelief. "Aunt Atsuko, Grandpa, and I have taken Yusuke to the doctor. He is very ill"

Kagome rolled her eyes and looked at Souta. "Souta, don't even believe that. He's got the flu bug and had over-exerted himself. I deal with that kind of thing all the time in the Sengoku Jidai. All he needs is rest and some healthy food, and this special medicinal herb that is put in tea that Kaede makes. He's not all that ill."

Souta began reading it aloud. "He is very ill and we are very worried. We didn't want to wake you two and Aunt Atsuko says to help yourselves to anything in the fridge and that you can watch TV. We will be back later after Yusuke's appointment. Love, Mama."

Kagome set the note on the island counter and they both looked in the fridge, their stomachs rumbling. They made themselves ham sandwiches using some of the previous night's leftovers and Souta grabbed a Cream Soda. Kagome got herself a glass of water. Both then sat down on opposing ends of the couch and watched some television. When they were done eating, Kagome washed their dishes, while Souta dried them and put them back where they were found.

After they had sat down to watch television again – one of Souta's favorite shows had come on and he wanted Kagome to watch with him (Samurai Jack), someone knocked on the door. After the first knocking, it became insistent and the person began pounding, hollering for Yusuke.

Kagome sighed. "Hold on, I'll be right back." She said and walked over to the door, unlocking it and opening it. She saw a girl with pink hair and a boy with orange hair. "May I help you?" She asked them.

The girl leaned over and whispered to the boy, "Did we get the right apartment?" He was too busy drooling to notice he'd been talked to.

"Yusuke isn't here right now." Kagome told the girl, eyeing the orange haired boy dubiously. He was inching closer and closer to her.

"Oh, where did he go, do you know?" The girl asked. "I'm Botan by the way!"

"Yusuke is not here."

Souta came to the door to see what was going on. "Who are you people, and why do you have blue hair?"

"I'm Botan and he's Kuwabara. We're Yusuke's...friends."

Kagome noticed the pause and raised her eyebrows. "I see." She said. "Well, like I said, he's not here right now."

Souta supplied the two with, "Come back another time, he's not here." Souta slammed the door shut and drug Kagome back to the couch sitting her down. "We're going to watch this whether or not you like it." He said forcefully.

Kagome grinned. "Alright, alright already."

The show, Samurai Jack, mostly was about a samurai who got sucked into the future and walked around on wooden shoes, chopping up robots with his katana. He was trying to defeat some tall demon-like guy – Kagome thought his name was something like Abu, she couldn't remember what it was. Kagome sat, pretending to watch the show. 'God... This is more like Samurai Lack!' She thought lamely. And the worst part was it seemed to be an all-night marathon of it.

Finally though, around three o'clock, Aunt Atsuko and the others got back. Kagome did her best not to explode at her mother for what Souta had said. Perhaps Souta had misunderstood, she convinced herself.

She looked over to Souta and saw his face. He looked very upset, and no doubt was going to say something irrational. She didn't blame him; she wanted to say something herself, but she placed a hand on his and squeezed it reassuringly. The look she gave him when he looked at her was one that told him not to mention that he'd heard what he had.

Soon, Yusuke was in his room, sleeping – probably because of a drug side effect; Kagome's mother called her and Souta to come sit at the counter with her and Atsuko. As Kagome and Souta moved to go over by the adults, Kagome whispered, "Let's give them the fit they're asking for. Take your cue from me." With a goofy grin on each child's face, they sat down at the island counter.

Naomi sighed. Waiting didn't make this any easier, so she didn't beat around the bush. "Kagome, you've got responsibilities on the other side of the well, I know you do... But I am going to forbid you from going through the well." Her voice faltered when she saw the fury building behind Kagome's eyes. "At least for a while." She practically begged. "Just stay with Aunt Atsuko for a while, please?"

Souta looked just as shocked as Kagome felt. Their mother never was one to lose her composure, especially in front of her children. "How long?" Kagome asked her mouth dry.

"One year..?" When Kagome frowned, she quickly changed her answer. "Ten months? Please Kagome?"

Kagome sighed. "I will stay away from the well for a while." She agreed reluctantly. She never agreed to staying away for ten months, just that she would for a while. Her mother seemed to accept this though – she knew she would get no more from Kagome.

Kagome soon found that her mother really did have this planned for quite some time. Atsuko cleaned out the third bedroom for Kagome and Kagome's things were moved from the trunk of the car to the third bedroom. Kagome found that her mother had packed all her favorite clothes, all her schoolbooks, and all her things from the Sengoku Jidai up and brought everything. So, Kagome unpacked in her new temporary room, having a new bed to make (Atsuko had given her red sheets and black comforter and pillow cases for the bed), a new dresser and closet to fill, a new bookshelf to litter, and a new desk to clutter. Her mother had at least been smart and didn't forget to pack the shards of the jewel of four souls. Kagome set those on her desk, right next to her silver desk lamp.

Kagome looked around her room when she had finished unpacking. The closet was full of clothes that required to be hung up. The bottom three drawers to the dresser were filled with clothes that required be folding and putting away – including Kagome's towels and wash clothes were in there. The top two drawers were filled with Kagome's various healing herbs and poisonous plants – each one either bottled up in a glass bottle or else in little clothes bags (some were even ground up after having been dried).

The bookshelf was littered with various charms that Kagome had made with Kaede over the years, and it even had a few rosary bead necklaces like the one that Inuyasha wore. The shelves also held some of Grandpa's old spell books, ones that he had given to Kagome in hopes that she would read them and aspire to become a shrine-girl. It would have even more once Souta mailed some of Grandpa's old tombs from the dark room in the basement. The last book on the shelf was a hard cover dictionary.

Next to the book shelf was a door that went out into the hallway – this room was meant to be another apartment, but halfway through making it, people changed their minds and just added a door to the main apartment instead of an entire kitchen and bathroom.

On the desk were Kagome's schoolbooks, all lined up neatly at the back of the desk, standing in between two book holders shaped like cats. Her pens and pencils were in the middle top desk drawer. Her notebooks were in the top left desk drawer. A few random things were in the other desk drawers.

Souta sat on Kagome's new bed, watching her while bouncing his racquetball on the plush carpet. It didn't bounce very well on soft surfaces, she noticed. "Kagome, I don't think you should leave the shards there."

"Hey, Souta... give me the letter for Inuyasha. I'm going to rewrite something." She took the letter from him, moving briskly over to her desk. "And where would you suggest I put them? I need to know where they are always."

Souta bounced his ball across the room; it landed on her desk, rolling for a moment, and then fell off to the floor. "Stick them in there."

"And if someone takes the ball, assuming it is just a ball?" She asked. She didn't bother to stop writing.

Souta sighed and lay back on her bed. "I never thought of that."

Kagome smiled. "Don't worry, Souta." She said moments later, folding the letter up and writing the same incantation on the outside as was on the other letter. She walked over to him and gave it to him. Once he'd taken it, she went and got the shards, taking them over to the bookshelf and pulling out the dictionary. The inside of the book was hollow. It was made to look like a dictionary, but really wasn't. She stuck the shards inside it.

"There. Now no one will find them. No one except you and me will know where they are. Satisfied?"

He nodded, sitting up to look at her. "'Gome... What if Inuyasha gets mad?"

"I have no doubt that he will. That's why he has to read this letter in his era."

"Okay..."

Their mother knocked on the door and came into the room. "Come on, Souta. We have to go."

Souta glared at Naomi until she left the room again, closing the door behind her. Kagome went and sat by Souta on the bed, wiping away a tear that forced its way out of his eye. "Souta, don't worry." Kagome said. "Everything will be alright. I'll be coming back soon, and I'll be back in the Sengoku Jidai even sooner, so you have nothing to worry about."

"I'm not worried!" He said defensively. But right after that, he hugged her. "Mother is a jerk; I'll make sure Inuyasha gets the letter."

Kagome chuckled and hugged her brother. "Good. Don't forget to mail me those old tombs, but take them from the dark room in the basement. Grandpa won't notice those ones are gone. He never goes down there."

"Okay." He got up and left the room, leaving Kagome to feel alone. It was strange, her relationship with her brother. She and he had the normal sibling disagreements, but they also were closer to each other than most were to their siblings.

She wished she had gone back with Inuyasha. If she had, she wouldn't be stuck here, away from him. She hugged her knees, lying down on the bed covers. She missed him already. It wasn't just the fact that Souta had left that had made her feel so alone. Souta was now her only way of communicating with Inuyasha. There was so much she had wanted to put in the letter. "I love you, Inuyasha" was one of them.

Kagome sighed as she woke up in her new room the next morning. She wished she was back at Kaede's village, arguing with Inuyasha; watching Sango and other villagers slap Miroku for his incessant groping; keeping Shippou from being beaten up by Inuyasha.

'Stop wishing; it won't change anything!' She berated herself, getting up to go shower. She took off her dirty clothes, putting them in the dirty laundry hamper and wrapped a towel around her body, exiting her room to go to the bathroom, knowing that no one would be up. Her new clock had said it was five thirty am, so she'd doubted that her Aunt would be up, and Yusuke was probably still too exhausted to get up.

She showered, unable to bathe because there was no bath. It was just a shower. Soon as she was done, she dried off mostly so that she wasn't tracking water all through the apartment, and went back to her room, dressing. She put on a blue tank top, layering that with a second tank top, white in color. Her pants were loose around the legs and form fitting around her waist, blue in color. She brushed her hair and left her room, looking in the cupboards for something healthy to eat for breakfast. She saw minimal healthy food, and frowned.

'Doesn't Aunt Atsuko know how to read health labels?' She wondered. Racking coughs interrupted her thoughts, and she looked towards Yusuke's room. It sounded like he was choking. She went over to his room, opening the partially opened door. Her eyebrows rose when she saw him.

He was lying on his back, coughing. He was hacking out blood, choking on it when it had no where else to go but backward. She hurried over to him, turning his head so the blood ran out. "This is ridiculous." She muttered. She saw a medicine bottle next to his bed on the bedside table. She looked at it. "Naproxen?" She took the medicine into the kitchen and threw it away. That would do nothing for him. It was only a pain killer, a fancier version of Tylenol. She went into her room, into the top drawer of her dresser, and took out a bag; tentatively sniffing its contents to be sure she had the right package. She did. She knew each of these bags by scent, knew what they were and what they did.

She went into the kitchen, boiling some water on the stove. She knew that micro waved water didn't have as much nutrients as when boiled on the stove because it heated so fast that the nutrients were mostly boiled out.

She listened to Yusuke's coughing while she made him tea using her special remedy herbs. She took it in by him then, waking him up so that he could drink it. She could tell he wasn't sleeping very well, having to cough so much, choking on the blood. While he drank it, she took his blankets and pillow cases off the bed, keeping one eye on him. The tea, she knew, would give him energy enough to make him feel better again, but he couldn't get up. He had to rest after drinking it. Though she couldn't let him sleep in his blood. She searched his closet, hoping to find extra blankets. She did. She remade his bed up with the blankets and took the empty mug from him. "Lay down." She told him.

He began to stand. "What are you doing here, Kagome?"

"Lay down." She said, more insistently, pressing him back down. "I'll tell you after you wake again. But for now you have to sleep. If you don't, I'll feed you something that will make you sleep for days." She threatened.

"Yeah, right. Little Kagome threatening me?" He laughed, starting to stand. "Let's see this thing you're going to feed me." He challenged.

"Alright." She said. She went to her room, taking out a second pouch from the top drawer, once again sniffing it tentatively. Smiling, she took out one seed from the pouch, breaking it in fourths. She didn't want to put him out for a half week, just a day. She took a fourth of the seed, putting the rest back in the bag, retying it, and placing it back in its place in the drawer. She closed the drawer and went back to Yusuke's room. He was searching through his desk. "I have it." She told him.

He looked at her, holding her hand up with a small piece of a seed. He laughed. "That? You think I'm going to eat some random seed?"

Kagome walked towards him, shaking her head. "No, you won't eat it. You'll swallow it as it is." She had reached him, and before he knew what was happening, she had already put it in his mouth. It fell back in his throat and he was unable to stop from swallowing it.

When it did nothing, he yet again laughed at her. "Really, Kagome. Stop playing."

Kagome shrugged, as though giving up. Seconds later though, his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell forward towards her. She caught his weight in her arms. He was surprisingly light, probably hadn't been eating properly for the past week or so. She helped him into bed, leaving him there, covered. She was glad for the fact that her herbs worked so fast.

Kagome sighed. She was hungry, and it was already noon. She decided to have a bowl of Frosted Cheerios, even though it wasn't the healthiest thing in the world. She promised herself that she would go shopping soon. Once she had eaten, she washed her dishes and the tea cup that she'd used to make Yusuke tea. Once she was done with that, she cleaned out the fridge, getting rid of everything moldy, everything outdated, and all the past few weeks of leftovers, including the previous nights.

Atsuko woke to see Kagome cleaning out the fridge and freezer. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm cleaning out the garbage." Kagome replied. "If I have to live here, I see no reason why I should open the fridge to see moldy mayonnaise and soda sprayed all over everything in the fridge."

"Oh, alright." Atsuko said dubiously.

"Don't worry, Aunt Atsuko, I will buy groceries to restock, just as soon as I finish cleaning."

Atsuko nodded, moving towards Yusuke's room. She peered in on the sleeping boy. Kagome had washed the blood from his face, and got as much from his hair as she could. "Would you keep an eye on Yusuke? I have to go to work."

"He'll be fine, Aunt Atsuko. I'm going to go shopping tonight yet. He'll be fine until I get back."

"Are you sure?"

"Atsuko," Kagome drawled, annoyed, "I know more about medicines that that doctor that you took Yusuke too – which actually isn't hard at all, since the doctor basically prescribed Tylenol. Yusuke will be fine, alright?"

Atsuko sighed. "The doctor said he might die if we don't give him that medicine."

Kagome tried and failed to hold back her laughter. "Atsuko, he's got a form of the flu, and he's over exerted himself. I have dealt with this many times. I gave him an herb that will sooth his coughing and help him fight the flu, and the seed of an herb that will help him sleep while the herb does its work. That doctor is a liar, and you are gullible. He'll be fine again in the morning."

"Are you sure?"

"Go to work, Atsuko." Kagome was having a hard time keeping herself patient.

"Alright. But take care of him." She gave Kagome a key to her apartment and then left quickly, her waitress uniform swishing with her movement.

'Did she hear a single word I said?' Kagome wondered as she finished the freezer and moved on to washing it and the fridge out. It took ten minutes to do. After that, she cleaned the cupboards and took out the garbage, placing it in the large bin at the very far end of the hall where the garbage was to go. When she got back to the apartment, she got her purse, turned off her bedroom light and closed the door, turned off Yusuke's, and closed the living room blinds. Then she got the house key from where Atsuko had set it on the counter and put it in her purse. Once that was done, she checked to see how much money she had left. Her mother had given her five hundred dollars, so that Kagome could buy whatever it was she needed (more proof that Naomi had planned this out for some time), and Kagome had put most of it in her hollow dictionary. She had put seventy dollars in her purse though. She was set to go shopping.

An hour and a half later, Kagome was back at the apartment, trying to juggle four paper bags of food and unlock the door at the same time. She dropped a bag on the hallway floor and it made a racquet. She found the door to be unlocked and wondered if she really had locked it before she left. She was sure she had locked it. She opened the door and picked up the fallen bag.

She set the bags on the counter and began putting away the groceries. When that was done a few moments later, and she had folded the bags and put them in the broom cupboard for temporary storage, she noticed a difference to the environment. There were four extra pairs of shoes by the door. She looked around the room and saw her bedroom door open. Now that, she knew she had closed. She went over to Yusuke's room, opening the door and peering in on him. He was still sleeping soundly.

'Strange...' She went into her room. Nothing seemed to be amiss. She looked carefully at her dresser. The top drawer was open a crack. That had been closed. 'Someone's been sleeping in my bed...' She thought dryly, thinking of the old Goldilocks story.

Kagome walked into the room, going to her drawer, but a movement from behind her caught her attention. She turned just in time to see a black haired figure rush at her and tackle her to the floor. Ironically, she thought, 'Someone's been sleeping in my bed, and they're still there...'

She thought it inappropriate to think such thoughts in her situation, and her next thought was of Inuyasha. 'Just shut up and let me protect you!' He had yelled at her, right after he'd gotten the Tetsusaiga. Well, he wasn't going to be able to protect her, so it was up to her now.

"Hiei!" She heard a female voice shout. "We don't even know for sure!"

She ignored the voice and shifted just slightly, as Sango had taught her so that she was able to use her hands and pressed down on a pressure point on the boy's back. He seized up, and she took advantage of the situation, flipping him onto his back and half sitting on his chest, hooking her thumb on a pressure point on his neck.

"Why are you here?" She asked him, her voice filled with fury. She had hardly moved in a day ago, and now she was being attacked! She realized that he had a presence that felt like Inuyasha's. She was sure that he was a demon. She said nothing about that though, only thought that she would have to be sure the shards were still in the dictionary.

Someone grabbed her from behind, lifting her off of Hiei, who sat up, rubbing his throat. "Let me go!" She demanded. She could use her miko powers, she knew, but if she didn't have to, she wouldn't.

A boy with red hair, slightly shorter than Inuyasha's, walked into her view. "My apologies." He said. "But we have questions for you."

"Uncivilized bastards." She yelled at them, Inuyasha's pleasant vocabulary making its way into her speech. "Let me go, now!"

When Kagome was not let go, she used her miko powers to make her skin burning to the touch, though it was hardly enough power to change her aura she knew. The person holding her was burnt and ended up losing hold on her. Kagome fell to the ground, catching herself and tripped the boy who had held on to her, not paying attention to who they might be. She then stood quickly and tried to run, but the boy in black was faster than her. He tackled her to the ground yet again, but this time she was face down, and she couldn't dislodge herself from her situation.

"What do you want with me?" Kagome growled into the carpet. She had no doubt now that the boy holding her was a demon. His red eyes only went to further her thoughts on that.

"Why did you poison Yusuke?" The boy holding her down asked. He didn't seem very concerned for Yusuke's welfare though.

"Poison him? Ha! What motive would I have to poison my cousin?"

"We're not the criminal masterminds here!" Kagome heard the most annoying voice say. She tried to see who spoke, and saw that it was a boy with orange hair. She recognized him from the day before. He and a pink haired chick had come to see Yusuke the day before. He was holding his hands and blowing on them as though he had been burnt.

"What are you doing breaking and entering?" Kagome said, before having her face shoved into the carpet.

"Hiei, don't be so rough!" A girl's voice said. Kagome couldn't see who had said it; the only thing she could see was the back of her eyelids, because if she opened them, the carpet would scratch up her eyes.

"Shut up, Botan." The boy, Hiei, said.

Kagome still didn't want to use her miko powers though. She knew she was in a bind, but she didn't want anyone in this era to know about her. "Let me go! I didn't poison Yusuke; I can explain the whole misunderstanding if I wasn't being choked by a rug!"

"Hiei, we should give her a chance to explain..." The voice sounded like the red haired boy.

"What, and let her try to run again?" Hiei growled.

"At least quit mashing my face into the carpet... I think you're giving me a nose bleed." Kagome mumbled into the carpet.

Hiei let go of her head, watching her back muscles for any signs of escape. She didn't try to escape, but rather tried to turn her head so that she could see her aggressor.

"What makes you think I poisoned Yusuke?" She asked.

The red haired boy answered, "In light of the fact that Yusuke seems to have been quite ill for at least three days now, and he's coughing up blood –"

"Damn it, he's doing that again?" she muttered.

"And the fact that you have quite a variety of poisons in your dresser, we have come to the agreement that you poisoned him."

"Stupid morons. He caught the flu and over-exerted himself. I gave him an herb to help his immune system fight the flu and help him dry out his lungs of all the blood. Then, because he wouldn't rest, I gave him a seed of an herb that would help him sleep."

"Hiei, let go of my cousin..." Yusuke was heard from the direction of the door.

Hiei grumbled about it, but he let Kagome go. She stood and rubbed her back, looking at Yusuke. "Why aren't you sleeping?" She demanded, but before she could say any more, he doubled over, coughing. Blood sprayed from his mouth and onto his closed fist.

Kagome frowned thoughtfully. 'For some reason, he is awake when by all rights he should be asleep until tomorrow afternoon. And the tea didn't work either, obviously... Well, perhaps a stronger kind?' She turned and looked at the pink haired girl who she recalled to be Botan. "You," She said, pointing to her, "go into the kitchen and set a pot of water to boil." She pointed at the red haired boy who she had yet to learn the name of. "You, help Yusuke back into his room. If his sheets are bloody, change them. There are clean ones in his closet." She pointed at the boy named Hiei. "You, go into the bathroom cupboard and get some washcloths. Lots of them. And get a bowl from the kitchen. Take it into Yusuke's room. A large bowl, mind you."

The orange haired boy piped up, "What do I do?"

"Stand there and look useful. That's probably about all you'll be able to manage anyway."

The boy got defensive about it, sputtering angry words, but Kagome ignored him, moving over to her dresser. She pulled out four different bags from the top drawer and three from the bottom, sniffing each in turn tentatively. When she turned around again, the three hadn't moved from where they were.

"Go! Now!" She told them forcefully, anger flashing in her eyes.

Unsure of what else to do, the three went and did as asked. Kagome took the seven bags of herbs into Yusuke's room, setting them on the desk near where Kurama and Hiei were changing the sheets on the bed. She then went back into her room, grabbing a book off the shelf. It was thick, probably six inches thick, taking it into Yusuke's room. She opened the book to a page she had marked with a piece of string because she never wanted to lose that page. She looked over the ingredients to the liquid that she was going to make, being sure she had everything right. She did. Sometimes her memory surprised even herself.

She turned to see the two boys finishing making the bed. "Good, put Yusuke on the bed on his back and if he starts coughing and blood comes out, catch it with a washcloth." She left to see how Botan was doing on the water. "Is the water almost boiling?"

"Yes, it is."

"Bring it in here when it is."

"Alright."

Kagome went back into Yusuke's room, sitting heavily in the chair by Yusuke's desk. The bowl was on the desk, along with several washcloths. Each time Yusuke coughed, the red haired boy would wipe the blood up.

Just as soon as the water arrived, Kagome began mixing together the powders and the crumbled dried herbs. She had Botan slowly pour some water into the bowl with the mixed together substances and slowly a sticky balm was made. After that, more water was added continuously until the balm became a liquid, steaming hot.

"Someone get me a tea cup." Kagome said, picking up the bowl of steaming liquid and taking it over to the bedside table. A tea cup was given to Kagome seconds later and she dipped it in the bowl, taking out some of the substance. She half straddled Yusuke, helping him sit up and putting the cup to his lips while saying, "Drink, Yusuke..." She poured some of the liquid down the dazed boy's throat, only to have it spit back up at her.

"No, Yusuke, don't do that!" She told him angrily. The others watched this for a moment, before Botan moved to help sit Yusuke up more.

"Thanks." Kagome told her. He was starting to get heavy. She tried again to give him the liquid, but again, he spit it up at her, shivering.

"Cold..." He said.

"I know, I know. This will make you feel better though. Drink it."

"Cold?" the red haired boy asked curiously.

"The reaction of the substances and the boiling water brings the temperature of the liquid as a whole down, as though it had been refrigerated for a day or so." Kagome explained. She again tried to give Yusuke some of the liquid but he spit it up yet again and Kagome began to get irritated. "Yusuke, quit fooling around!" Kagome told him, scowling. When Yusuke spit up again, Kagome put the cup in the bowl with the rest of the liquid, standing up and exiting the room briefly, her shirt soaking.

Kurama bent over the bowl, sniffing it. "Well, there is nothing harmful in there, at least." He told Hiei and Botan.

"Of course there isn't." Kagome said, coming back into the room. "Like I said; I wouldn't poison my cousin."

"You said he has the flu, right?" Botan asked.

Kagome knelt by Yusuke on the bed, a vile in her hand. She quickly poured some of it down Yusuke's throat; a small enough amount that he wouldn't be able to spit up before it got down completely. He began coughing and gagging and Kagome quickly readied the potion she'd made, pouring it little by little down his throat. He accepted the liquid, drinking it gratefully. "That is correct. He's over working himself, knowing my cousin. He doesn't go down easily, and because of that, he probably didn't let the first signs of the flu get to him."

"What did you just give him?" Kurama asked.

"A very vile tasting fluid so he would be more cooperative. He's acting in a daze right now, and when he recovers from the flu bout, he probably won't remember any of this, so don't bother trying to rub it in that he did this or that."

Soon Yusuke had drunk the entire potion and fell asleep. Kagome went to change because she was soaked from Yusuke's vain attempts not to drink the potion. Once she had changed, she went out into the living room, hands on her hips.

"So, tell me why exactly you decided to enter this apartment uninvited?"

Hiei scowled at her tone. "Who asked you?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Look, short stuff," She said, even though he was just as tall as her, maybe an inch shorter, "I could kick your ass from here to the Sengoku Jidai, so don't mess with me right now. I'm in a very foul mood considering you broke into my Aunt's apartment, attacked me, and accused me of poisoning my only cousin."

"Hn, I would like to see you try." Hiei told her, snorting his disdain.

Kagome narrowed her eyes at Hiei. "Don't push your luck, fire boy." She said threateningly. Hiei was mildly surprised she had said that, but took it as an attempt at an offensive name-calling. "Look, I want you all OUT of this apartment. Or else I'll make you get out."

Looming behind Kagome was Kuwabara, and Kagome knew this. Just as she sensed he was going to make an attempt to grab her, she ducked down, swinging around and sliding his feet from under him. She seemed to be doing a lot of tripping these days.

"Get out of this apartment!" She whispered furiously, turning her head to look at the others. "I won't say it again."

Botan sighed. "We're going." She dragged the others out with surprising strength.

Kagome sighed and plopped down on the couch once they were gone, napping while the TV played some rerun of some stupid sitcom. Every few hours she checked on Yusuke to see how he was doing, and was glad to see that his condition was improving. Finally at around ten thirty pm, she showered and went to bed.

She was awoken by a light tapping on her door. Kagome groaned and blinked open her eyes. 'Inuyasha? He must not be able to get into the window. Did I lock it?' She wondered before registering where she was. 'Oh yes... I remember now. Aunt Atsuko's house.' Grudgingly she got up and walked to the door of her room that connected with Atsuko's living room.

"Yes?"

Atsuko's face greeted her cheerfully. "Ah, Kagome! I want to thank you for whatever you did for Yusuke. He's back to his normal healthy gloomy self! I just wanted to be sure you are up though for your first day of school before I go to school. Yusuke will help you get to school and to your classes, as Naomi and I have scheduled him to have the same classes as you."

Kagome blinked, and then panicked. "Oh no! That's right! School! Thanks Auntie for the wake up!" Kagome called, slamming the door shut and dragging around the room. She tossed through her things, not sure what to wear to give the best impression. She decided to go casual/formal. She chose a light purple belly tank top, with a contrasting dark purple skirt that tapered down one side more than the other. She showered in a record fifteen minutes, brushing her hair and leaving it down after dressing, and grabbed a pair of purple sandals that tied to her ankles. Her final touches were some purple eye shadow, a light layer of eyeliner, a spray of her favorite perfume: jasmine and rose, and lip gloss. Finally, she grabbed her backpack, shouldering it and leaving the room. Atsuko was just leaving. "Auntie, where is Yusuke?"

"Oh, dear, he won't get up unless you force him to. I'll see you after I get home from my classes tonight, but don't wait up for me. I might be late. Bye hun."

"Bye Auntie." Kagome said, waving. She went over to Yusuke's room, peering in. "Yusuke?" She called in a quiet voice.

Yusuke sat on his bed staring at his ceiling with his arms crossed behind his head. "What mom?"

Kagome giggled, forcing Yusuke to turn and look at her. "I'm not Aunt Atsuko, Yusuke!" She said.

Yusuke grumbled and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Why are you here?"

"I got here a couple days ago. I'm going to be staying here for a while because my mother is being a jerk. Come on, I'll explain it on the way to school."

"You're comin' to my school?"

Kagome nodded.

"Oh, well then I'll introduce you to a few people who are okay to hang out with."

Kagome laughed. "Still protective of me, just like when we were little, eh Yusuke?"

Yusuke had a grim look on his face as he looked her over while they walked to school. He didn't bother to grab a back pack or anything, she'd noticed as they left the apartment. "You're a lot better looking than the last time I saw you." He told her. "You're hotter. I'm not going to let some bozo come hit on my cousin who is weak and frail." He grinned then, playfully.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "If only you knew... I can fend for myself."

"Riiiight. That'll be the day."

Kagome chuckled. 'Yes... that will be...' She thought triumphantly as they neared the school. "Perhaps I will humor you. You never know."

"I suppose you don't. So... mom said you took care of me while I was sick. Thanks for that I guess."

"Well, someone has to." As they talked, 'catching up' on what they'd been up to in the past (both omitting many things like being a S.D. and traveling back and forth through a well to the Sengoku Jidai) few years since seeing each other, Kagome's mind wandered back to Inuyasha. She missed him a lot. She wondered what he was up to and if Souta had given him the letter yet or not. It all depended on whether or not Inuyasha had come from the past to get her yet, she supposed, but she wished she hadn't said for him not to come find her. She knew he could find her from miles away probably, but then she realized she was being selfish. She couldn't let him risk his life. She knew that up against weaponry of the future, he would be at a loss. Half-demon or not, he would probably die against modern weaponry, or else he would end up in a lab somewhere, poked, prodded, and pinned to a scratch board and tortured while scientists cut him up and experimented on him.

"Are you even listening to me Kagome?" Yusuke asked irritably.

Kagome threw herself back to reality. "Oh, sorry. Something caught my attention. What were you saying?"

Yusuke groaned. "I knew it! You still are mad at me from that snake I put in your sock drawer three years ago aren't you?"

Kagome shuddered at the memory, but smiled at him. "Actually, I was just thinking about something else."

Yusuke smirked knowingly. "Ah, I see. So, you have a boyfriend do you?"

Kagome blushed. "NO! It's nothing like that." She said patiently, with more patience than she would have thought possible. "I was thinking about... about an obligation that I have. That's all."

"Oh, okay. Though I'm not as stupid as that, you know. There's someone who you like isn't there?"

Kagome narrowed her eyes at her cousin. "Why should I tell you? I'm still single, and I don't like anyone in that way right now!" She lied about the second part, but the first part was all too true.

"Whatever. Let's go get your schedule from the office." He poked her side, right on the exposed skin. "But don't think I won't find out."

Kagome smirked on the inside. "Okay, Yusuke. I won't think that."

Yusuke scoffed at her 'innocent' tone. "You really haven't changed." He said grumpily. "You are still naïve as ever."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"..." He didn't answer, obviously.

Kagome's first class of the day was History. She walked into the room, a smile on her face. The teacher, 'Mr. Hakima', was a substitute that day for the real teacher, it seemed. Mr. Hakima introduced Kagome to the class, and Kagome grimaced inwardly at the faces on half of the class. The boys were drooling and the girls were looking murderous. 'What did I do to them?' She wondered. 'Did I do anything at all?'

"Class, this is Kagome Higurashi. She just transferred here from Harui school." Mr. Hakima said, smiling. "Go ahead, say a few words about yourself, miss Higurashi."

Kagome gulped. 'What to tell?' She plastered a winning smile on her face. "My name is Kagome Lynn Higurashi..." She said, not saying any more. Mr. Hakima only said to say a few words.

Mr. Hakima chuckled. "Thank you, miss Higurashi." He said. "You may sit between Mr. Akira and his sister." He said, pointing to two twins in the back of the room. Both of them had chocolate brown eyes, tan skin (tanner than normal Japanese), a mess of black hair, though the girls was longer than the boys, and both of them had red and silver highlights in their hair. They both wore all black, the girl with heavy black make up on her face.

Kagome bowed respectfully to the teacher and went and sat in between the boy and the girl. The girl turned to Kagome flashing a smirk. "You're new, eh?"

Kagome nodded.

"Alright, I'm Sheena." She said. "My brother's name is Haru."

Kagome smiled. "I'm Kagome..."

Haru looked Kagome up and down, or as much as he could while she was sitting. "Nice ass." He said, smirking. He leaned forward and pinched Kagome's butt.

Kagome sweatdropped. "Um... do you mind?" She said, not wanting to up and slap this boy, but at the same time wanting to do it.

Haru chuckled and let her go. "Just wanted to see if was as firm as your legs make it seem it will be."

"Are you satisfied?" Kagome asked, curious.

Haru nodded. "Yes. So, Kagome, where you comin' from?"

Sheena rolled her eyes. "You idiot. If you were paying attention, you would have realized that Mr. Hakima had said she was from Harui school district."

Haru chuckled. "Harui, huh? Well, it just so happens that I wasn't paying attention to Mr. Hakima. He doesn't deserve my attention. He's not a female, and he's not Mr. Matenkashi."

"Yeah…" Sheena said, starry-eyed. "Mr. Matenkashi is so hot, and yummy too! I envy his wife!"

"Who is Mr. Matenkashi?" Kagome asked.

Haru chuckled. "He's the real teacher of this class. He knows a lot of history and he explains it like he actually was there. He teaches a class mainly on Sengoku Jidai, which is really cool. Sheena and I are in that class. Are you?"

Kagome took out her schedule and looked at it, surprised to see she was indeed enrolled. "I guess so..."

"You'll have to work really hard. Mr. Matenkashi is really cool, but he's also very strict. If you can't keep a B average in that class, you are dropped from it." Sheena pointed out. She flipped her hair behind her shoulder.

Haru nodded. "This one is a required class, so people fail out of it all the time. Its just the regular history class."

"Why is Mr. Matenkashi not here?" Kagome asked.

Haru shrugged. "His wife is sick with the flu, but what is worse is that she's pregnant, so he's staying home to take care of her."

Sheena smiled. "His wife is really pretty."

Haru chuckled. "Yeah she is. She's six months pregnant, really big, yet still manages to look gorgeous!"

Kagome blinked. "Wow... From the sounds of it, you two have high respects for these two..."

Haru grinned. "Well, yeah. Mr. Matenkashi practically raised us!"

"So he's your dad or something?"

Sheena shook her head. "Naw. He adopted us, but when we're in school, we're supposed to call him Mr. Matenkashi. He's weird like that."

Kagome nodded, but really didn't understand, but for the sake of conversation, she would pretend. Unfortunately, Haru and Sheena could tell she didn't understand. Haru pinched her bottom with a grin. "I'll explain. We were orphaned at age three, and our dad knew Mr. Matenkashi so before he passed on, he asked Mr. Matenkashi to care for us as though we were his own."

Kagome raised an eyebrow at them both. "Mr. Matenkashi is like a father to you both, but you take passes at his wife, from the sounds of it, and you take passes at him? What kind of relationship do you have with them exactly?"

Mr. Hakima was currently trying to get the attention of the class, but was failing to do so. "Excuse me… Excuse me! Class… please, everyone would you please settle down and listen to me?" But to no avail. No one would pay attention to him. People were throwing paper airplanes around, and somehow his bottom had been glued to the chair so he couldn't get up.

A large group of boys were staring at Kagome who was unaware of the glances they gave her and the hunger in their eyes.

Near the end of class, Sheena and Haru were called to the office over the loud speaker, though the message was hardly heard over the din in the room. "Would Haru and Sheena Akira please report to the office. Haru and Sheena Akira, please report to the office."

Haru had heard it however, considering he was sitting directly under the loudspeaker. "Oooh! I bet Mrs. Matenkashi is having the baby!" Haru said, happily. "I hope it's a boy! Then I can teach him to beat up all the people who he doesn't like!"

Sheena laughed. "You dolt. Of course it'll be a girl, and then I will teach HER to beat up the people who SHE doesn't like!"

Haru pinched Kagome's bottom one last time as the bell rang to signal the end of the hour. "Hey, we'll catch up with you whenever, okay?"

Kagome nodded. "See you later." She said, smiling. She had a feeling that she had just made two very good friends.

Sheena took a piece of paper out of her notebook and gave it and her pen to Kagome. "Here, give us your phone number and we can call you to tell you the news, good or bad." She told her. Kagome grabbed the pen and scribbled down her Aunt Atsuko's phone number.

"That's not my phone number, mind you, that's my Aunt Atsuko's, so you'll have to ask for me. I'm living with my aunt now." She explained when they looked confused.

"Oh, I see." Sheena nodded. "We'll give you a call later on, okay?"

Kagome nodded, but then a thought struck her. "I don't think that Mrs. Matenkashi is having the baby though, unless it is premature labor, in which case I don't think the baby would survive…" She told them.

Haru scratched his head thoughtfully. "Yeah, you're right... six months is a bit early..."

Sheena frowned, thinking a moment. The three and Mr. Hakima (who was glued to the chair so couldn't move unless he decided to look foolish and roll it down the hall) were the only ones left in the room. "Well, I don't know what it could be!"

Kagome shook her head, signifying that she had no clue either. "Well, whatever it is, I hope it is good news." She told them truthfully. "I hope you come back after you go to the office, but in the event that you don't, I'll see you whenever." She smiled at them and they grinned back.

"Of course! I could never leave someone as hot as you are alone for very long." Haru said, a hand snaking around Kagome's waist. "Kagome, you and my sister are two very gorgeous women, who'll have to fend off guys at every step, so I've got to keep my eye on you two!" His other hand went around Sheena's shoulders.

Kagome blinked. "Um... but she looks exactly like you. Don't you have that problem too?"

Haru smirked. "That's exactly why she has that problem; it's 'cause I'm so good lookin'!"

Kagome and Sheena laughed and both shrugged away from Haru, though it was more difficult for Kagome since Haru's arm was around her waist and not on her shoulders. She picked herself carefully from his grasp, giggling when he smirked and tickled her stomach as the office lady called him and his sister again.

"Would Haru and Sheena Akira please come to the office. Haru and Sheena Akira, please report to the office immediately."

Sheena chuckled and helped Kagome out of Haru's grip. "Come on, Haru. Leave Kagome alone. She's got to go to class, and we've got to go to the office."

Haru sighed and then pecked Kagome a kiss on the cheek. He grinned like a madman when she blushed. "We'll call you... or more to the effect of I'll call you. I've got your number now!" He began to laugh as her blush deepened, but Sheena stepped on his foot hard with her heel.

"You mean, SHEENA has her number, you moron!" She grumbled, speaking in third person for a moment. "You're truly dumb!" She dragged him away from Kagome, waving to her new friend. "See you, Kag!"

"Okay, bye." Kagome said and left as well, going to her next class while they went to the office.

The day passed smoothly until lunch. Haru and Sheena had not come back through the entire day, making Kagome wonder what was happening with her new friends. Even though Haru was a big pervert, and it seemed that both were obviously rebels (though they really didn't act like it all that much, or maybe that was just Kagome, not realizing what was happening), they both seemed to be very nice.

Kagome found Yusuke to be missing through the entire morning, but knew he skipped classes a lot. He was a smart boy, if he put his mind to things, he just preferred not to. At lunch, however, Kagome found herself at odds. She wasn't sure how she ended up behind the school, but now she was. She was surrounded by a group of boys, all were heckling her telling her how gorgeous she was, luscious, succulent, divine, scrumptious... the list of words went on and on. There were fifteen of the boys. Kagome knew she could handle two or three, four people if she was mad enough, but she knew she wasn't going to be leaving this secluded area behind the school unscathed, and by the sounds of it, she would probably not leave it a virgin either.

Her thoughts wandered unavoidably to Inuyasha. He always protected her. He always came to her aid. But today, he would not be coming. It stung to know that. But, she would not give up without a fight. No, she wouldn't. She knew Inuyasha would hate it if she did. She steeled herself as the boys began their advance towards her.

She fought well, giving one boy a broken nose (effectively bruising her own hand in the process), one a fat lip, she managed to kick two of them in the groin and trip another, until they all tackled her, pinning her to the ground. 'How do I manage to get into such trouble?' She wondered. 'Maybe it isn't Inuyasha that attracts the trouble, maybe it is me...'

Still, she wasn't going to give up. She screamed until someone covered her mouth with their hand, and bit their hand when they did, though they didn't let go of her. She struggled in their grasp, kneeing the one who tried to 'mount' her in the groin.

"Bastards, get off of me!" She yelled, but her voice was muffled by the hand covering her mouth. Just as she was about to use her miko power to save herself, she heard Yusuke's voice through the fray.

"GET OFF OF HER NOW!" Yusuke yelled. Heads turned in time to have a fist connected with face after face. Yusuke wasn't alone though. The black haired boy from the day before, and the red haired boy and the orange haired boy were with him. One of the boys backhanded Kagome so hard she saw spots and felt dizzy, and it made her miss seeing most of the fight. Moments later, Kagome could see properly again and she saw Yusuke finishing the fight off, rendering the last boy unconscious. Yusuke looked over to Kagome. "Hey, you okay?" He asked, going over to help her up.

Kagome nodded, slightly disheveled. "I was handling it." She muttered darkly under her breath, knowing the reaction she would get and knowing he wanted to hear it for reassurance.

Yusuke laughed. "Riiiight. You were handling it and I'm the queen of Shiba."

"Really? I didn't know you had a sex change!"

Yusuke sighed. "You're impossible, 'Gome." He said gloomily, helping her to stand. "I always had to watch you then, and now it looks like I have to do the same." He sighed. "I wish you weren't such a weakling." He actually hadn't meant to say that out loud but was surprised to see it didn't make her sad to hear that.

Kurama interjected with, "I wouldn't say she's a weakling, Yusuke. She nearly won in a fight the other day against us."

Yusuke's eyes widened marginally. "What were you doing fighting my cousin?"

"They broke into Aunt Atsuko's house and then attacked me, so..." Kagome trailed off, blushing.

Yusuke laughed, slinging a hand across her shoulders. "Well, I suppose that's something! Anyway, I'll introduce you to the guys. Suichi Minamino, Hiei, Kazuma Kuwabara, this is my cousin Kagome. Kagome, these are the guys."

"What's Hiei's last name?"

"I have no last name."

"YUSUKE!" A hurt voice cried. Kagome looked and saw a girl with short brown hair with a hurt expression on her face. She marched up to a frightened Yusuke and slapped him. "How could you!"

Kagome sighed, looking at her much disheveled state, listening to Yusuke blunder and try to find the source of a one mad Keiko Yukimura's pain as he removed his arm from her shoulder.

Finally Kagome looked at the girl named Keiko. "Hello, I'm Higurashi, Kagome. Yusuke's cousin." She put emphasis on 'cousin'. "Yusuke just helped me out of a tight spot is all, and we were talking." When Kuwabara cleared his throat, Kagome grudgingly said, "And they helped too."

Keiko looked relieved. "Oh, then okay. I'm sorry I slapped you, Yusuke..."

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, it felt like a mosquito bite anyway." Though the strong red handprint on his face said otherwise.

Kagome smiled at Keiko, a thought coming to her head. "Besides! If you were thinking Yusuke was cheating on you with me, then I would say my own boyfriend would be jealous too, but he isn't. So no worries."

Keiko smiled. "Who is your boyfriend?"

Kagome paled marginally. She hadn't thought she'd be QUESTIONED on it. "Um..." She let her eyes wander, and then got a really wicked thought in her head. 'Yusuke said on the way to school this morning that he didn't like girls like that... so... lets embarrass him to hell as revenge for shoving my face into a carpet.' She grinned, pointing to Hiei. "Him."

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**If you're wondering, this will not be completed. It's the first attempt at TMttF so I will post how much there is, but no more. **


	3. Third Chapter

**Title: TMttF's First Attempt  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. _

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**This is TMttF's first attempt, I will not be completing it, I just felt like sharing my failures. I will post what I have, no more. **

Yusuke snickered. "Yeah..." He said, catching onto her thoughts slightly. 'Ahaha, this will embarrass the hell out of him!' "Keiko, meet Kagome, my cousin, and Hiei's woman."

Kagome giggled to herself, loving it when Hiei's face turned an angry red, though it looked like a blush.

"Aww, how cute! You finally got a girlfriend!" Keiko said excitedly.

Kurama looked at the angry fire apparition. "Hiei, congratulations. I had no idea!"

Kagome couldn't contain it. She burst into gales of laughter. This was just too good. Kuwabara looked at Hiei angrily. "Hiei you jerk! You take everyone!"

"I didn't take anyone!"

Kagome leaned on Yusuke, trying to control her laughter. The little fire apparition was thoroughly unsettled, and that made it all the more humorous. But he wasn't denying it! This was so great! Did he not know he could just deny being her girlfriend?

Obviously, if his next statement was any indication, he had realized that. "And she is not my girlfriend!"

Kagome quenched that immediately, going into serious mode and walking up to him. "How dare you deny that?" She made herself cry, tears leaking from her eyes. "I can't believe you would say that! I moved here for YOU..." She sobbed, clutching onto him, her arms around his neck. It was good that he was as tall as her. She didn't have to reach up, or bend down to do this. Inside though, she was laughing. That's what brought the tears to her eyes. She buried her face in his shoulder. She knew perfectly well what he could do to her in an instant if he so chose to do, but she sent her miko power coursing through his body, not enough to change her aura of just an innocent school girl, but enough to keep him from sending her on an early trip through the pearly gates. Or through the fiery gates of hell. She wasn't sure which she was going to yet.

Yusuke was on the ground laughing and crying, pounding his fist on the ground. Kurama was raising an eyebrow, wondering if it was true (yes, he is slightly gullible), Kuwabara was fuming that Kagome was hanging onto Hiei, and Keiko was smiling at the sight. "Ah, how romantic... a lovers quarrel!" She murmured. She grabbed Yusuke and Kuwabara's arms. "Come on Suichi. We should leave them alone." She said pulling the two away.

Once they were gone, Kagome let go of Hiei, laughing and wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "That was for smashing my face into a carpet." She told him, laughing. She took a rosary out of her backpack, one just like Inuyasha's, and spelled it so it would subdue him. Quicker than he could register, she'd placed it around his neck, finally serious. "You will play this out, Hiei." She said, smirking.

"What the hell? No I won't! You will tell everyone you lied, wench!"

Kagome laughed, thinking of a word to use as a subduing spell. She grinned. "Hiei." She said, and he smashed into the ground. 'Turn his own name against him... love it!' "You will play along like a good little boy. Or you will regret it, Hiei." He smashed deeper into the ground.

"What the hell is going on!" He growled.

Kagome shrugged. "I'm not sure. You just look clumsy to me." She said, though she knew in his head he was figuring it out. He sat up, trying to take the rosary off. "Don't you like the gift I gave you?" She asked, snickering.

"However you did this, you better take it off right now, or else I'll tear you apart!" He glared at him.

Kagome smiled pleasantly back at him, though her voice showed she was no innocent school girl. She was mischievous, and she was more powerful than she let on... He wondered what she was. She didn't smell like a demon... Then again, neither did Kurama. Perhaps she was like Kurama? "You will do no such thing... With as clumsy you are, you wouldn't reach me. Now get up. You're going to walk me to my next class."

Grudgingly, Hiei got up. It was obvious to him that he had no choice, though he hated it. If she could do this with just a simple bead necklace, she could probably take control of his whole body, just as she had confined his demon power inside his body earlier. There was something about her that made him want to do something terrible to her... like strangle the life out of her, but he knew he wouldn't make it. She could kill him with whatever power it was she had before he had a chance. So for now, he knew he would have to play along.

She was a lot smarter than she'd first let on... Once he'd walked her to her class, he left to find Yusuke, who was on the roof skipping class. Before he made his presence known, he hid the necklace under his shirt. The thing was a major embarrassment.

"What the hell is your cousin?" He asked Yusuke angrily.

Yusuke looked at Hiei, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Human or demon, what is she!"

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "She's human. Can't you smell it? Pure and simple, no added demon half like Kurama, no spirit energy like me. She's just an ordinary human."

Hiei was silent. 'She's no mere human. She can't be... There's no way. Not with the power I felt burning through my body.'

"Ah, here you are!" Botan said. "Yusuke, Hiei, Koenma wants to see you both in his office right now!"

Grudgingly they went with her to her portal and were at Koenma's office in no time. Yusuke scowled at the tiny ruler. "What do you want?" He shouted, angry to have his afternoon nap disturbed by seemingly everyone.

"I have a new case for you!" Koenma said happily jumping around on the top of his desk. He looked at George, the blue ogre that always stood next to his desk to help him. "George, get me the folder!"

George deadpanned. "But sire..."

"Don't 'but sire' me, George, this is important! I have to have that folder!" Koenma shouted, waving his arms around in the air. Papers from the folder that he held in his hand were flying everywhere.

George tried to catch the flyaway papers and looked much like a chicken running around with its head cut off, only he had a head. "Sire, you're holding the file! Please stop flapping around, sire!"

Koenma looked at his hand. "Oh, thank you George." He said, snatching all the papers that George held and shoving them crudely into the folder. He tossed the folder carelessly to Yusuke, who caught it, and then began stalking back and forth on the desk. Yusuke looked at the folder for a moment before opening it to see a head and shoulders shot of a boy with dog ears wearing a rosary around his neck and having silver hair. The other three (Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama) looked at the picture over Yusuke's shoulder.

"We're not really sure about the name of the demon or really anything at all about him, but what we know so far is that the boy is a half-breed." Koenma explained.

"So...what?" Yusuke muttered. "You want us to find 'em and kill 'em?"

"Yes, but not before you find the girl who he seems to be stalking. We don't know who she is really, but we know she has long black hair and frequently misses school."

Kuwabara took one last disinterested glance at the picture in the file and then began to stare off into space; thinking about god only knows what. Kurama looked thoughtful in his silence, and Hiei looked bored. Yusuke drawled, "Well, thanks toddler. It isn't like over three fourths of Japan doesn't have black hair."

Koenma rolled his eyes. "Now, Yusuke, the girl lives on a shrine and it is this shrine's well-house that the demon seems to haunt, but every now and then he comes out to heckle that girl. He was brought to our attention when he killed a Noh mask with a piece of a sacred jewel called the Shikon no Tama embedded in it."

Kurama raised a delicately sketched eyebrow. "The Shikon no Tama? Does it really still exist?"

Yusuke closed the folder and tucked it under his arm to review later that evening when he had more time. "Wait a minute, hold up." He said. "What is the Shikon no Tama?"

Hiei scoffed at Yusuke's lack of knowledge. "You don't know what the Shikon no Tama is and you call yourself a spirit detective?"

"The Shikon no Tama, or Jewel of Four Souls, was a powerful jewel capable of granting a single wish to its user. It was shattered and thought to be lost hundreds of years ago, but even a single shard of the Shikon no Tama could increase the power of a person ten fold." Kurama explained.

"Yes, and it seems that it is not so lost." Koenma said. "When this demon killed the Noh mask, he took the shard as well, so we can guess that he'll be a formidable foe, so don't underestimate him. I'll continue looking for information on him, but I want you to keep a look out for him and the girl. Remember, he haunts a shrine with a well-house." Koenma stopped pacing the desk top.

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it isn't like there aren't a thousand shrines with well-houses around Japan." He said dryly, but for some reason Koenma had already curled up on the desk and fallen asleep. "Stupid toddler." Yusuke muttered.

George deadpanned again, then picked up the sleeping ruler and put him in a crib in the corner of the room. The four spirit detectives left the room and Botan created a portal to the human realm for them to go through.

Once back on the roof of the school, Yusuke plopped down on his normal space, setting the folder beside him. He closed his eyes, preparing for a nap. Kurama and Kuwabara left to go to class and Hiei jumped from roof to roof, going wherever he liked to go.

About a half an hour later, a loud bell rang making Yusuke realize that the day was over. He yawned and sat up, grabbing the folder up and shoving it under his arm. He left the school building, ready to leave for home.

Kagome was waiting for him at the gate, a small smile on her face. He could see a secret in her eyes, practically bursting to come out. What the secret was, though, he had no idea. He grinned at her though, remembering the events at lunch time. "Nice job embarrassing Shorty!" He told her, chuckling.

She blushed. "I don't know what came over me. I just wanted revenge for him shoving my face into the ground so rough the other day."

"Well, it worked. You were so convincing that even Kurama believed it. Oh, and..." he was silent for a moment, but then spoke again in a softer and less gruff tone, "thanks for the help with Keiko. She always thinks I'm cheating on her if I am anywhere near another girl."

Kagome frowned slightly. "And here I always thought that it was the guys job to be controlling."

"She's got that covered enough for all the guys in this school. Only she usually only slaps me when I'm groping her. I can't believe that she did it then..."

Kagome and Yusuke began walking back towards his apartment. "Well, if it had been me, and I had seen my boyfriend hanging all over some girl, I would have done the same thing." 'That's not true...' She thought miserably, but kept her misery hidden. 'Inuyasha was hanging all over Kikyou, multiple times, and I did nothing.'

Yusuke sighed. "Um... 'Gome, you're a girl... would you give me some advice please? Keiko is still a bit sore about this afternoon, and I want to make it up to her... how would I do that?"

Kagome eyed him carefully, while making sure not to bump into anyone in the busy sidewalk. "Well, I suppose I will give you some advice... though I really am not the one to go to for this."

Yusuke gave her the irresistible puppy dog eyes. "Please, 'Gome. I really need your help!"

Kagome sighed. "Fine." She said, looking away from him. She was silent for a few moments, pondering on what to say while they walked closer and closer to their destination.

"Are you going to answer? Or are you just going to ignore me?" Yusuke asked.

Kagome was still silent for another half minute before she answered. Finally when she did, she did so in a voice that, although soft, wasn't kept quiet to a whisper. He could see in her eyes that she was thinking of someone as she spoke. "You could show her that you are for her and her only. You would know what she liked, and what she didn't like... if she liked chocolates, you could get her some...if she liked roses, you could get her a dozen. You could spend a day with her, walking through the park, eating ice cream, going to a movie that she wanted to see, talking about things both personal and not so personal..." She sighed inaudibly and then looked sidelong at Yusuke, who seemed to be pondering it. "But then again, if you did that, she'd think you are really cheating on her, considering you probably don't normally do this for her."

He deadpanned. "I'm trying to fix things though, not make things worse!"

Kagome smiled and patted him on the shoulder as they entered the first elevator in the building. "I'm sure you'll think of something." He told him seriously.

Yusuke groaned. "I'll just do what I always do when I do something wrong and pound my head on a table until she forgives me."

Kagome laughed. "No wonder you are so dense! You make yourself lose what little brain cells you have."

Yusuke shoved her shoulder. "Yeah, whatever."

When they got to the apartment, they were surprised to see Naomi and Souta waiting with Atsuko at the island counter. "Mother, what are you doing here?" Kagome asked, bitterness creeping into her voice despite her attempts to keep it out.

Yusuke looked surprised at the sound of Kagome's voice. He'd never heard her sound anything other than pleasant, and mischievous (that afternoon had been the first time he'd heard her that way, the day was so full of surprises).

Atsuko looked at Yusuke. "Yusuke, please go to your room." She said. When Yusuke was about to dispute, Atsuko crossed her arms across her chest. "I will have no arguments right now, Yusuke." She told him. "This is not your concern."

Grumbling, Yusuke went to his room, deciding to listen at the door, which he did. Atsuko then left for work.

Moments later, he was peering out the crack in the door and watching the happenings. For the moment, Kagome was just looking at her mother angrily, but then he was shocked to hear her voice. "What do you want?" She asked, venom dripping from her voice.

Naomi rubbed her face in her hands, sighing deeply. "I just wanted to check up on you, that's all. Can't I do that?"

"Why bother? You just up and brought me here, away from everything!" Kagome hissed. "'To get me away from things' is your excuse? Well, fuck it, mother!" Yusuke raised an eyebrow at that. Kagome very rarely (as far as he remembered) swore. "So what if I did"

"Kagome, I had to get you away from there! It was bad for your health, stress"

"Stress my ass! Who gives?"

Yusuke was beginning to think that his cousin was doing drugs, which was why she had to live with him. He continued to watch. Souta was sitting, at the island counter, and Yusuke could see the shape of a package under his shirt. He wondered what it was briefly. But then he thought about Kagome's eating habits (that he'd seen as of yet) she seemed to eat more than healthy so you wouldn't believe that she'd do drugs.

"Kagome, please understand, I'm thinking of your well being! You were dealing with dangerous people and" Naomi tried to interject, but Kagome waved it off, narrowing her eyes perilously.

"And I was taking care of myself perfectly fine! I can handle it, and you know I can't hide anyway!"

Souta stood quickly, the stool falling to the ground from the force of his standing. "Shut up." He said. "Mother, Kagome knew exactly what she was getting into, so it really isn't your choice to contradict her decision!" Without warning, he grabbed Kagome's hand and towed her to her new room, slamming the door behind them.

Yusuke thought about this. Was Kagome in some kind of trouble back at Harui School? Is that why she had to move? It made him wonder about the changes he'd seen in her already. She was a fighter, and had broken a boy's nose earlier that day. She was devious and deceitful. Kurama had told him about how she had two drawers full of herbs and poisons in her room... what was going on? He scowled. He hated not knowing. How was it that his cousin had gotten into drugs and all the bad things that came with it in the first place?

--

Kagome looked at Souta after pacing back and forth in front of the bed where he sat for a few moments, trying and failing to wear a hole in the floor. "What the heck is wrong with her?" She said finally, collapsing next to Souta on the bed and sighing. "I really miss everyone, and I wish I could just tell Inuyasha to come get me, regardless of consequences, but that would be selfish."

Souta smiled and reached under his shirt, taking a package from his stomach where he'd taped it. "Here. It's from Inuyasha and your other friends." Kagome saw that it was wrapped in deer hide and tied with twine. "He was mad, by the way. Really mad. He wanted to come find you, but he couldn't 'cause of the thingy you did."

Kagome sighed again, taking the package. "Thank you. What about those books? Did you mail them?"

Souta shook his head. "I have a bunch of them stashed under my bed, but I have to find a box to put them in. I'll mail them express to you tomorrow."

"Thanks Souta. You helping me means a lot."

Souta grinned. "Yeah, well, you know what? Inuyasha is teaching me how to sword fight, so... we're even!"

Kagome smiled. "Well, that's good. Is he a good teacher?"

Souta nodded. "I think he is. He told me that he learned to fight when he was about my age but he said that when he gets upset, he doesn't stop to think about what he does, and knows he's not as reliable a fighter, but said that he's working on that."

Kagome nodded knowingly. "Yes, he's just like that."

Seconds later, Naomi knocked on the door. Kagome put the package under the bed to open and investigate later on, not wanting her mother to know she was in communication with the past still. Naomi entered when no one answered and poked her head in. "Souta, come on, it is time to go."

Souta gave Kagome a hug and Kagome returned it before they left the house. Kagome sighed and fell backward on her bed.

That was how Yusuke found her a few moments later. He knew his Aunt and cousin had left, and wanted to confront Kagome. His voice was angry as he spoke to her. "You wanna explain to me exactly why you had to come here?" He asked in a harsh voice.

"No." Kagome said in a flat deadpan voice. "Not particularly." That was another thing that Yusuke had never heard from her: that flat deadpan voice.

He stalked over to her, looking down at her with his fist clenching and unclenching. He wasn't sure whether to punch her or scream in frustration. "Why not?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"Because I don't want to talk about it." She said, not realizing that his suspicions of her doing drugs were just raised about ten fold.

"Yeah, well, you're in my house, Kagome, and so you have no choice but to tell me."

Kagome chuckled at him darkly (she was quite tired of games by now), glancing at him before standing up and looking him in the eye. "You can't demand anything of me, Yusuke." She told him. "I'm not a little girl, I don't need your protection, and I don't want to talk about it, alright?"

Yusuke was taken aback by her tone. She'd surprised him enough. He was going to have answers, and he was going to have them immediately. He walked over to her dresser, ripping the top drawer out of it and spilling the contents (bags and jars of herbs) all over the floor. "Tell me what it is!" He yelled, throwing the drawer towards the corner of the room. "What are these drugs, and why are you involved with 'dangerous people'?"

Kagome's face turned purple with her rage. "You idiot! What the hell makes you think"

"I heard the conversation between you and your mother! Who are these dangerous people and why can't you hide from them?"

Kagome took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "You misunderstood our conversation." She said, as calm as she could. She retrieved the drawer and began rearranging the herbs in their order, not saying another word.

Yusuke, when he realized that she wouldn't talk about it, sat down in front of her, an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to be so"

"I know." She said, letting him off the hook. "I'm not doing drugs though, so don't worry about me."

"Will you please tell me about it?"

"No."

Yusuke sighed. "Alright fine... but... but if you need help, don't hesitate to ask me, alright?"

Kagome looked up at her cousin, smiling. "If it will make you feel better, I will keep that in mind, okay? But I mean it when I say I don't need help anymore."

"Oh... Okay." Yusuke sighed and waved his hand at the herbs she was rearranging. "So...if you're not doing drugs, what're these for? I mean, why do you have them?"

Kagome didn't answer right away, not knowing what to say, but thankfully the phone rang so she had an excuse not to answer at all. She stood and went to the bedside phone that Atsuko had for her (she had her own phone line thanks to Atsuko and Naomi paying for it to make her more comfortable living with Atsuko) and picked it up.

"Hello, Kagome Higurashi speaking."

"Ooh, Kag-" The voice of Sheena came but then there was the sound of a scuffle and Sheena and Haru seemed to be arguing over the phone.

"Sheena, give me the phone!"

"No, ass, let go!"

"You let go!"

"You!"

"Why should I?"

"Because I said so! Besides, I called, so I get to talk to her first!"

"Sheena, I want to tell her!"

"No, you just want to flirt with her!"

"No I don't"

"Yes you do."

"How would you know what I want to do?"

"Because you're my brother, I know more about you than anyone else does!"

"Oh yeah? Well, then fine!" It sounded like Haru knew he was out done.

Kagome laughed. "Are you two quite through arguing?"

"Ha! Yeah. We are. Of course, I won." Sheena said with a laugh. "So anyway, you probably want to know why we weren't back the whole day, right?"

Kagome nodded, but then remembered Sheena wouldn't be able to hear her head rattle so she said, "Yes, if you want to tell me, I would like to know."

Haru's voice sounded. "Beautiful, we had to come home because mom"

"Mrs. Matenkashi, in otherwords." Sheena interjected.

"Yeah, I think she realizes that by now, Sheena. But anyway,"

"How are you talking on the phone Haru?" Sheena asked curiously.

Kagome sat on her bed, wondering why Yusuke was still sitting in her room.

"I'm on the phone in the next booth." Haru said, unconcerned.

"How are you in this conversation then?"

"Don't ask me, I just picked the phone up and heard your voice so... yeah."

Sheena sighed. "Whatever. So anyway, mom is in premature labor. We had to come home and pack a bag for her at the hospital, considering she hadn't packed one."

"Sheena, I wanted to tell her!"

"Oh, I'm sooo sorry. Why don't you do it then?"

"Thank you, your majesty, for the permission!" Haru said happily. "Mom went into premature labor this morning, during first hour, so now she was in the hospital, having contractions and all that good birthing junk, and needed us to pack an overnight bag, so dad"

"Mr. Matenkashi"

"She KNOWS, Sheena!" Haru grumbled. "Dad called the school, since he was with her at the hospital and didn't want to leave her side for longer than to make the phone call, and he asked that we be excused so that we could go home and pack an overnight bag for mom at the hospital. Afterwards, we stayed to wait with dad in the waiting room 'cause he was paranoid something would happen and since he wasn't allowed to stay in the labor room 'cause he was such a nervous wreak and mom made him stay in the waiting room, assuring him nothing would happen."

"So do you have a baby sister, or a baby brother then?" Kagome asked.

Sheena answered, "Oh, we don't know yet. Mom's still giving birth. We're calling from the hospital, and since we told you we'd call you later, here we are, calling you later!"

Haru's laugh filled Kagome's ear. "Yeah, and besides, I wanted to remind you that you're coming to meet our parents tomorrow night for dinner."

Kagome blinked. "I am? What for?"

There was the sound of a slap, in which Kagome guessed that Sheena had slapped Haru upside the head. "You don't have to tomorrow, but dad and mom'll want to meet you 'cause they don't want us hangin' with the wrong crowd, so you've gotta meet their expectations – and believe me, you're well qualified, I'm sure you are. But mom'll be all better by dinner tomorrow so you could come tomorrow."

"Yeah, and I won't let you say no, 'cause you're my girl, you know!" Haru said with a chuckle. "You're going to come after school tomorrow. And if you want, your cousin can come with too. I think I saw you with your cousin today this morning, you were walking to school together right?"

"Yes, that was my cousin with me." Kagome said, ignoring Yusuke's staring at her.

"So, your cousin really is Urameshi? Oh my god! Kag, you're so lucky! He's such a hottie!" Sheena exclaimed.

Kagome blushed, embarrassed by her tone. "Um, I don't exactly think of him that way. He's my cousin that would be incest."

"You have to bring him! I know he has a girlfriend, but wow! And if he refuses on grounds that his girl would get jealous, tell him to bring her along too, okay?" Sheena ranted.

"Um, okay, I suppose. I don't want to impose though..."

"Aw, Kag, you don't have to worry about that! Besides, you'd sit by me and I'd get to feel you up all I want!"

Kagome frowned. "I'm sorry, but I will warn you that if you do that, I'm going to slap you. I let you get away with it today, but I won't continue to do so."

Haru just laughed. "That's okay. I like my girls tough!"

"Oh, gotta go, Kag." Sheena's voice imposed. "Dad wants us. Tell Urameshi to be prepared to come over tomorrow with his girl and you. We'll drive, so don't worry about that."

"Yeah, and wear something nice, 'kay? Like... a short skirt! Short enough for me to slip my hand"

Another slap sounded as Kagome laughed. "I'll think about it, but keep in mind, I won't stand for you groping me. I will slap you."

"'Kay, bye Kag! I think mom's done birthing!" Sheena said excitedly.

"Love you, babe! Feel you tomorrow." Kagome was sure Haru was smirking as he said that.

"Bye." She said and hung up.

"So, who was that?" Yusuke asked casually.

"Sheena and Haru Akira. They invited us to dinner tomorrow night."

"Why me?"

"Because I think Sheena has a crush on you."

"I can't. Keiko would be ma"

"Sheena said that you can't get out of it, especially because you have a girlfriend. She said that Keiko is invited too."

"..."

That night, while Atsuko was at work, Kagome and Yusuke had the house to themselves and Kagome learned something of Yusuke's evening habits. Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, Keiko, and Botan had come over for a delightful evening of games.

Kagome went into her room when they'd come. She didn't want to impose on her cousin's fun. She sat doing her homework for a while until that was completed and she found herself with nothing to do. When she was done with that, she went to the bathroom to shower, seeing that they were playing chutes and ladders. 'I thought that was a kids game?' she wondered briefly before turning the hot water on and sending the water through the shower head.

She let the water cascade down her body, letting it sooth her irritated muscles. She found her cheek had a nasty bruise on it from lunch time, and there were bruises littering her arms from being man handled, but she also knew that she couldn't heal herself because that would look suspicious, especially to Hiei. He was already suspicious that she had some sort of power, which she did, but she couldn't let people know that or else she might find herself in the same predicament as Inuyasha would be in if people saw him with dog ears. Being torn apart while alive and tested and poked and prodded were not favorable in her opinion.

She wondered how Hiei dealt with things. Perhaps he had something that concealed what he really looked like? Maybe if she confronted him about it, he would tell her? Of course, it helped that she had something up on him: the rosary bead necklace.

She vaguely heard the phone ringing from somewhere in the apartment but figured with as many people in the apartment as there was, someone would answer it. Soon after it started ringing, it stopped and there was a knock on the bathroom door. "You have a phone call!" Yusuke shouted through the door.

"Thanks, tell them I'll be right there." Kagome said, rinsing the shampoo out of her hair.

"Why should I? You can do it yourself! The phone is on the kitchen counter."

Kagome grumbled about how her cousin was so irritating and got out of the shower, wrapping her hair in a towel wrap and then wrapping a towel around her body before leaving the bathroom, heading to the kitchen counter where the phone was. She was unconscious of the fact that multiple eyes were following her movements, including a very red pair of angry eyes.

She picked up the phone and placed it to her ear. "Hello, Kagome Higurashi speaking" She started before she was interrupted.

"WENCH WHERE ARE YOU!" Inuyasha's angry voice sounded through the receiver, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Yusuke's suspicions that Kagome was involved in a gang or something of the sort multiplied then.

Kagome, however, was very calm about it as she walked with the cordless phone to her room, closing the door behind her. "Hold on, Inu"

"Don't you tell me to hold"

"Sit!" The sound of a crash was heard and Kagome set the phone down on the bed, quickly moving to change into her pj's. She was dressed and had the phone back to her ear by the time Inuyasha recovered from the 'sit' spell. "Okay, now, you read my letter, right?" She asked.

Inuyasha began grumbling and there was the sound of a struggle between Inuyasha and Souta in which it would seem that Souta won because he was next on the phone. "I taught Inuyasha how to use the phone in return for the sword lessons, so he can talk to you now!" Souta said proudly.

"Good job, Souta." Kagome said.

There was yet again the sound of a struggle, and Inuyasha was the next on the phone. "Yes, I read the letter. I don't like it though. You could be attacked at any time now! WHO WOULD PROTECT YOU?" His voice gradually got louder until he was shouting and Kagome had to hold the phone away from her ear as far as she could reach.

"I get your point, Inuyasha." Kagome said. "But you don't have to worry. I can take care of myself, and in the event that I can't you can rest assure that my cousin will probably protect me."

"Probably? PROBABLY? There can't be a probably! You can't be PROBABLY dead, can you? There is either DEAD or NOT DEAD and I don't want you DEAD!"

"Well, thank you for your concern, but I'll be fine! Souta is going to mail me some of my grandfather's old tombs, and I'm going to research for something to conceal your traits and make it safe for you to be in this era walking around, but until then, I need you to wait for"

"I'll wait, but I don't like it. Did you get the package?"

"Yes, I did. I haven't looked at it yet though."

"Well, there are Shikon shards in there for you to hang on to. I figured you'd get mad at me if I kept them..."

Kagome chuckled. "You were right, I probably would. Thank you."

"Yeah well, it was nothing. Anyway, there's something from everyone in there too. Kaede sent you some herbs she'd found, Miroku sent you a 'friendly grope' which I was supposed to give you, but won't 'cause he's just a lecher, Sango sent you a dagger for your protection, the brat sent you a bundle of dried flowers, saying to tell you they're tasty when you eat them, and"

"And you sent me the shards... Thank you." Kagome said, looking at the two shards from the package that she'd unwrapped while Inuyasha was talking.

"Yeah. I'm stayin' here in your time a bit more, you know, but only 'cause I said I'd teach your brother. I'm not stayin' for you!" He said in a gruff voice.

Kagome chuckled. "Of course."

Yusuke barged into the room then. "Kagome we're playing Spin the Bottle Truth or Dare and you have to play with us because I said so now get out here!"

"Who is that?" Inuyasha said, sounding a bit jealous.

"That's my cousin, Yusuke." Kagome said, nodding at Yusuke to let him know she'd be right out. He left leaving Kagome alone in a closed room for a moment, not noticing the package on the bed.

"Okay..." He sounded a bit less jealous then. "Well, um... yeah, I think I'm going to go now. Don't go getting yourself hurt, okay?" Kagome was surprised at the sensitivity in his voice. "Hurry up with that...whatever you said you would find. If you don't have it found in four days, I'm just going to come over there, 'cause it is a new moon."

"Really, it is? So soon? It feels like the new moon was just here yesterday... Well, Souta said he'd overnight the mail, so I'll try my best, but don't just come barging in here, okay? You can't be seen, especially when you"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. As if anyone could see me anyway! I'm too fast for human eyes."

"Please, be careful..." Kagome said with a sigh.

"Keh, I'm always careful. Here, your brother wants to talk to you before you go."

"Hey, 'Gome, I've got them all ready to go, and I thought of something really good. I could go to the store and get some color contacts and black hair color, so Inuyasha could look normal. What do you think? Then we could use a bandana or a hat to cover his ears and he could keep his hands in his pockets or something. I borrowed him some of dad's old clothes, and they fit him nicely, so he almost looks normal. He won't give up the sword though, so that sets him out. But a hair cut, black hair dye, and color contacts would probably be the simplest route to take... what do you think?" Souta asked.

Kagome smiled to herself. Souta was so smart! "Yes, why don't you do that? Get the things ready, and he can bring them over to me in four days and I'll take care of things. And don't force him to get rid of the Tetsusaiga, because without it, if he gets upset he might hurt himself or someone else. If anyone asks, just tell them he just got back from kendo and hadn't put it away yet or something."

"Okay, do you still want me to mail the books, or just spend the money on the dye and contacts?"

"I think it will be fine to just get the dye and contacts, and actually tell him I said to let you give him a hair cut and have you dye his hair and show him how to use the contacts. Okay?"

"Sure, no sweat! Oh, by the way, mom has yet to find out Inuyasha's here, so if you call and she or grandpa answer, don't mention Inuyasha, ask for me."

"Yes, I understand. He can come find me once he's disguised well, but make sure he knows not to do anything extraordinary like jumping roofs."

"Yes'em. I understand! Ooh, gotta go hide Inuyasha. Mom's back with Grandpa from the store. Bye bye!"

"Bye, tell Inuyasha I said bye."

"Will do!" Souta said and then he hung up. Kagome heard the dial tone and hung up as well, putting the shards with the others in the hollow dictionary. The other things she wrapped back up to look at later, shoving them carefully under the bed. That done, she left her room to find Yusuke and his friends waiting impatiently for her.

"Hey, you're gonna drag me and Keiko to someone's house tomorrow for dinner, you can do this. What's so important about a phone call to your gang buddies?" Yusuke growled at her, immediately regretting his words once they'd left his mouth.

Kagome, however, just smiled pleasantly. "I told you, I'm not involved in a gang like you think, dear cousin. I suppose though, you could say I'm involved with dangerous people." What possessed her to say the words, she didn't know, but she felt like she had to tell someone something about her secret life, even if she didn't explain herself. "Now, what are you going to play?" She said, changing the subject quickly before anyone could question her.

"Spin the bottle truth or dare." Keiko supplied with a smile. "We started without you, but you can just join in. It's my turn right now." She seemed so innocent, but most of the time so did Kagome.

"I don't think I have ever played this before." Kagome admitted ruefully.

Yusuke narrowed his eyes at Kagome. "It's like truth or dare, the original game, but the bottle chooses who you ask a question. If it lands on yourself, you get to choose who you ask a question. There, now you know, so you can just sit your ass down and play with us."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Fine."

She sat down and Keiko smiled. "Alright, I will spin now." She said, reaching forward to spin the bottle.

Kagome saw something in Keiko's eyes which made her smile. Keiko was going to be ruthless on whoever it was the bottle landed on. She might be able to keep up an act of an innocent little girl, but that wouldn't go as far as playing this game obviously.

The bottle spun for an agonizingly long twenty seconds on the hard board. It landed on Kagome. Kagome smiled, sitting down on the floor between where Kurama and Kuwabara were sitting on the floor.

Kuwabara looked at Kagome's chest, staring down the cleavage that her pajama tank top showed. She didn't care really, as long as he didn't touch.

Keiko fluttered her eyelashes at Kagome, a dreamy look on her face. "Ah, Kagome dear, truth or dare?" Kagome didn't want to answer any questions about herself so she chose the latter. Keiko smiled successfully. "Alright... I dare you to..." She paused dramatically. "Kiss Kuwabara! Hahahaha!" She began to laugh maniacally.

Kagome glanced at the drooling Kuwabara and frowned, but she kissed Kuwabara's cheek. After all, Keiko had never said where she had to kiss Kuwabara.

"Aw, that was no fun!" Keiko groaned. "No fun at all!"

Kagome shrugged. "After all, would you enjoy kissing someone other than your boyfriend?" She asked, winking at Hiei who scowled.

Keiko pouted. "No." She said unconvincingly.

"Alright then. I'm guessing it is my turn to spin or something?" At Keiko and Botan's eager nods, Kagome reached forward, spinning the bottle. It spun and spun and Kagome wondered who it would land on. It slowed and slowed and continued to slow until it landed on Keiko. Kagome smirked, looking casually at her nails. "Truth or dare?"

Keiko frowned. "Oh, no. You won't try this on me!" She said, thinking Kagome was going to dare her to kiss someone other than Yusuke. "Truth."

Kagome smiled secretively, briefly prodding her way into Keiko's mind with her miko power, careful not to go too far or else her aura would change. She saw enough though so didn't need to go far. Keiko's most recent memory was a kiss, and it most certainly wasn't Yusuke kissing her. Kagome frowned and got a good look at the boy, realizing the boy was Hojo. She'd heard that Hojo had moved schools recently, but he wasn't as forward a person as to up and kiss a girl without their consent. The strangest thing was that Hojo was wearing all black, with dark make up on his face and looked more than goth.

"Why were you kissing Hojo Nisho in the band room this afternoon?" Kagome asked, angry that Keiko would cheat on her cousin.

Keiko paled when Yusuke turned to his girlfriend. "You were KISSING a guy? The hell! You got all up in my face about me having my arm around my cousin's shoulder and then you go kiss some other guy?"

"It wasn't me, Yusuke!"

Kurama looked at Kagome. "How do you know this happened?"

"I know things. Hojo went to Harui school before coming here. He was one of my friends."

Botan frowned. "This is sooo unfair!" She sobbed. "I liked Hojo! Keiko how could you!"

Kagome looked sharply at Keiko. "He's never been as forward as to 'just kiss' someone without a reason." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "But he has a twin who I do not know... hm..."

"He cornered me in the band room!" Keiko tried to say.

Yusuke looked extremely hurt. Kurama frowned. "Kagome, if he was your friend, then you should have his phone number, correct?" At Kagome's nod he continued, "Well, why not call him and ask him his reasoning? You can put it on speaker phone so all of us can hear it."

Hiei looked bored at the whole conversation and just sat, leaning against the couch, his grey top fitting his muscles and showing them off. Because he was wearing that particular tee-shirt, he couldn't hide the rosary so it lay on top of the grey shirt. "Yusuke, rest assure that you can just beat the shit out of him if worse comes to worse."

Yusuke frowned at Keiko. "I can't believe this!" After everything he'd been through... It had been Keiko (and his friends but he wasn't thinking about that at the moment) who he'd thought about and who had given him the strength to continue. "You couldn't tell me? You had to keep it a secret?"

Kagome was already at the phone though, calling the number she'd memorized. She'd called it enough to cancel dates so of course she'd memorized it. "Everyone, shut up." She said as it began to ring. "Hi, is Hojo there?" She asked.

"This is him speaking."

Kagome put it on speaker phone. "Hi, Hojo, this is Kagome Higurash"

"Kagome! Really? Are you ready to go on that date?" Hojo asked eagerly.

Kagome frowned. "No, unfortunately, I have a significant other, and it isn't you." She lied.

"Oh..." He sounded down. "I see... So, why are you calling then? I heard you moved, congratulations. Where to?"

"Why, thank you, Hojo." She said, sounding pleasant while rolling her eyes. "I am in Sarayashiki school district now."

"Really? Me too! Perhaps we can have lunch togeth"

"Yes, perhaps a friendly, non-date lunch would be nice. But Hojo, there is a reason for my calling. You once told me you had a twin, where does he live?"

The others were confused at her not going straight to the subject.

"Oh, he lives here in Sarayashiki school district. Mother and father thought that a good influence in his life like me would be good for him, which is why I moved."

Kagome nodded. "What type of clothes does he wear?"

"Kagome what does that have to do with anything?" Yusuke snarled.

Kagome held a hand up to stop him from speaking more. "Hojo, what type of clothes does he wear?"

"He's one of those creepy dark people."

"Really? Make up?"

"Uh huh. Father wants me to tutor him because he's failing everything. Kagome, please, don't get involved with anyone like him. I happen to think he's stalking some girl."

"Stalking?" Kagome asked, silencing Yusuke with a look when he looked about to yell something. "Who is this girl?"

"I don't know her name."

Kagome smiled. "That's alright, Hojo. But what makes you think he's stalking someone?"

"He's always talking about how he's going to make her 'his'. It creeps me out. This afternoon he was muttering about how he cornered her but she got away."

"Really? What was your brother's name again?"

"Alen. Why? How come you're interested in my brother and not me? Is HE your significant other?"

Kagome laughed. "Oh, no. No, he's not. If he were, I might learn his name."

"Oh, I see. Well then, um... I hope you'll have lunch with me."

"Of course! A friendly, non-date lunch of course, but sure I will!"

"Well, alright. Oh, I have to go. I want to be fully rested for tomorrow. Bye!"

"Bye." Kagome hung up and burst into laughter. 'I should have known Hojo couldn't do something like that!' She thought. 'He's far too nice to.'

"What's so funny?" Yusuke yelled.

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**If you're wondering, this will not be completed. It's the first attempt at TMttF so I will post how much there is, but no more. **


	4. LAST Chapter

**Title: TMttF's First Attempt  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. _

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**This is TMttF's first attempt, I will not be completing it, I just felt like sharing my failures. I will post what I have, no more. **

Kagome calmed herself and explained. "You can be happy to know that I was wrong in my assumptions. Keiko didn't kiss Hojo. Alen, Hojo's twin, kissed Keiko."

"But what does that mean?" Botan asked.

Kurama answered, "It means that Keiko was cornered in the band room by Alen Nisho who tried to kiss her and succeeded, until she slipped away from him."

"Or in simple terms," Hiei said, "you can beat a one Alen Nisho to a pulp tomorrow, Yusuke."

Yusuke ground his fist in his palm, "He can bet I will! No one kisses my girl but me!"

Keiko smiled, her eyes tear stricken because she'd been crying earlier. She hugged Yusuke and a moment of silence was shared through the room before Botan ruined it. "So, Keiko, your turn!"

Keiko untangled herself from Yusuke and smiled. "Okay! Back to business!" She reached forward and spun the bottle. It slowed to a stop on Hiei and she smiled.

"Truth or dare, Hiei!"

Hiei shrugged. "Truth, I suppose."

"Ooohoo!" Keiko cheered. "Okay, I want to know where you got that necklace!"

Hiei scowled. "No where." He said.

Kagome giggled, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "Aw, sweetie, don't say that! You know I gave it to you!"

Keiko squealed happily. "Aw, how cute! You wear something your girlfriend gave you? How romantic!"

Kagome and Botan giggled, Kuwabara drooled at Kagome's cleavage, and Kurama smiled. Yusuke laughed.

Hiei scoffed. "She's not my girlfriend." He said. "How many times must I tell you?"

Kagome walked over to where Hiei was and made herself comfortable in his lap, smirking when he looked uncomfortable at their closeness. She, as she'd done before, sent a smidge of her power (not enough to change her aura) into his body, keeping him from acting aggressive towards her. "Aw, now you don't really mean that do you, sweetie?" She asked with a pout.

Hiei scowled more. "You" But he didn't get much further because Keiko had had enough of the 'romantic lover's spat'. "Hiei, just spin the bottle." Keiko demanded.

Yusuke stopped laughing to point out that he couldn't with Kagome on his lap. "'Gome's in the way, so how can he?" He asked.

Keiko frowned. "Alright, then. I will do it for you." She spun and it slowed to a stop on Botan.

"Dare!" Botan said excitedly, before the question could even be asked.

Hiei rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. I dare you to"

Kagome grinned mischievously and whispered in Hiei's ear, "Tell her to kiss Suichi. Consider it a favor...or else." Kagome warned.

Hiei glared at Kagome momentarily before repeating the dare, hating how she seemed to have made a pet out of him.

Kurama glanced at Hiei, annoyance apparent in his eyes. "And this would be coming from where?" He asked.

Hiei muttered darkly, "Her idea."

Kurama wondered exactly what Kagome had done to make Hiei so mild tempered.

Botan frowned. "No way! I'm not sayin' that Kur – I mean Suichi isn't appealing or anything, but" At the look Keiko was giving her, she closed her mouth, crossed the room, and pecked Kurama on the cheek. "There, happy?" She asked, moving back to her original spot.

"Very!" Keiko said. "Now spin."

Botan did and it landed on Kagome and Hiei. "Truth or Dare, Kagome." She said, a dark vengeful tone to her voice.

Kagome smiled sweetly, all the while thinking 'I seem to be a magnet for the bottle.' "Dare." She said. She really had no other option anyway, because she didn't want to answer questions about herself.

"I dare you to" Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who you were, the phone rang.

Kagome climbed out of Hiei's lap to answer it, but Yusuke was quicker.

"Yo" He said, then after a second grumbled and held the phone out to Kagome. Kagome smiled and took it.

"Hello, Kagome Higurashi speaking." Kagome said in a pleasant tone.

_"Oh my gosh! Kagome, I'm so sorry!"_ The voice on the other end of the line said. It sounded like Eri, one of Kagome's friends from her old school.

"Why are you sorry?" Kagome asked.

_"I heard you got kicked out of school so you had to move."_

"I didn't get kicked out of school, Eri." Kagome said with a sigh.

_"Well, that's not what I heard. The teachers are all bustling about it. They said that you are a bad student, doing drugs, joining gangs, beating up innocent bystanders, and were involved in multiple gang related violent streaks."_

Kagome laughed. 'The things people make up these days, just to get their students attention.' "I was involved in nothing of the sort, Eri."

_"Well, how come your mother sent you away then?" _

"Because she's a selfish woman who doesn't think about obligations that need to be met before her own selfish needs." Kagome looked at the clock, seeing it was midnight already. "But it is late, so I'm going to go."

_"Good idea. I'll call again another time and we can talk okay? Now that your brother gave me this number to reach you at, I can call you! Oh, by the way, how's that Parvovirus curing up?" _

Kagome choked back a laugh. 'Doesn't she realize that is a dog's disease? What kind of bull shit was grandpa feeding everyone before?' "Oh, the Parvovirus is healing up just great! You wouldn't even realize I ever had anything of the sort!"

_"That's good. Well, I'll let you go then and call you some other time."_

"Okay." Kagome hung up, a big smile on her face that she couldn't contain. Life just kept getting stranger and stranger by the moment.

"Parvo, 'Gome?" Yusuke drawled. "Even I know that's a dog's disease. So, are you gonna tell me NOW what's going on?" He sat down next to her at the island counter, handing her a glass of milk.

Sometime during the phone conversation everyone else had left. Kagome sighed, the smile gone along with her bubbly mood. She took the glass of milk gratefully, taking a small sip of it. "Do you want to talk about your secret? I know you have one. My mom was talking to your mom on the phone once and I overheard part of the conversation. Something about fighting in a tournament against groups of demons for some sort of championship? Wanna talk about that?"

Yusuke remained silent for a few moments before looking at his own glass of milk disinterestedly. Then he finally spoke, saying exactly the opposite of what Kagome had expected him to. "I'll tell you my secret if you tell me yours." He told her quietly, though his voice still echoed in the nearly empty apartment.

Kagome looked at him to see his face serious. She smiled, though it wasn't quite reaching her eyes. "Alright, Yusuke. You want to know so bad, and I guess it would help a bit to let someone know..." She sighed deeply, before proceeding to explain everything that had happened to her up until then, leaving nothing out, sparing no detail at all.

When she finished, Yusuke looked at her in a new light. "Somehow I find it oddly believable, though it is a very unbelievable story."

Kagome chuckled. "I can't honestly say that I always believe it myself. Sometimes it feels like it has all been a dream that I'll wake up and find myself on my fifteenth birthday again, never having met anyone from the past. So what's your story?"

Yusuke smiled. "I personally don't think it is as great or interesting as yours is, but since you awarded me, I suppose I have to do the same."

"Yes, I would appreciate the return favor."

Yusuke proceeded to tell his story from start to finish, including telling her about Hiei's sister Yukina and their relation. He didn't leave out any details either, and if their family could be prided on only one thing coming from their grandfather's side, it would have to be that they were very good at storytelling and details. Kagome listened as he finished up with telling her about their latest mission and having to find a half-demon who haunted a well-house.

Kagome smiled, not making the connection between Inuyasha being a half-demon and coming out of the well-house often to see her if she was back. Likewise, Yusuke didn't make the connection with her being a shrine-girl and going into a well-house to meet up with a half-breed dog demon, a fox demon, and two humans and a cat demon. He also didn't measure up with the fact that she found Shikon shards.

"Have you ever told Keiko about this?"

Yusuke sighed and nodded. "Botan told her during the whole mekai insect incident – I think that was what those bugs were. She was suspicious that I'd been spending all that time with some other girl, but I wasn't."

Kagome shook her head sadly. "I don't know what to tell you. She's strange, that's for certain."

"I think it's her being different is what attracts me to her."

Kagome smiled. "Perhaps it is. You are weird too, after all. Like kinds attract you know!"

"No, they push each other away."

"Well, this time they don't." Kagome told him decidedly. "And I have to warn you, Inuyasha will be coming soon to see me, so don't go spirit gunning him, okay? I don't care how strong you are, I don't want to risk him getting hurt or you getting hurt."

Yusuke grinned ruefully. "Yeah, whatever."

Kagome nodded and looked at the clock again. She sighed. It was four AM already. She rinsed her glass out and then placed a hand on Yusuke's shoulder. "I'm going to bed to get a little sleep before school. Tomorrow you're going to class whether you like it or not so you should sleep to. And don't tell anyone my secret. I can't have people know. Don't even tell your closest friends."

Yusuke nodded his understanding. "You know, it felt good telling someone about my life and how it really is. I mean, I talk to my mom about it some, and I talk to Keiko a bit... The guys live it with me, but I can't tell them about it and how I feel, you know?"

"Yes, I know how you feel. In the eyes of my friends, I'm always ill because I'm always gone into the feudal era. It felt really good to tell someone the truth. Soon, though, She smiled at him one last time before going to bed. Shortly after he went to bed as well.

Things were going through Kagome and Yusuke's heads, mainly surrounding the two's secret lives. Both were doing something that they had to. Both were forced into a life somehow, Yusuke was forced into it by doing a good deed and pushing a child out of the way of a rampant car and getting killed. He wouldn't have had the chance to revive if he had not accepted the deal Koenma had given him, which meant he had to be a Spirit Detective. Somehow along the way, he had made friends with Kuwabara, his one time rival, and Kurama and Hiei. His last mission, the Toguro tournament, had ended up with Yusuke's mentor, Genkai, transferring her greatest power to him and then she ended up dying at the hand of one of the Toguro brothers. That had hurt Yusuke. He'd grown used to the woman being around, but now she wasn't there anymore.

Kagome was forced into her secret life because of a centipede demon that had pulled her through the well, biting the Shikon out of her side. After that, she was bonded to Inuyasha through the rosary that Kaede had thrown around his neck. After that, she had accidentally broken the jewel, creating even more of a tie to the past. It was her responsibility to collect the shards. No one else's. She would complete her obligations, but she had promised her mother that she would stay with Atsuko for a while at least. She would stay for a while, but eventually Inuyasha would get restless and he would drag Kagome into the past again. She knew for now though, he would allow her to live at Atsuko's, so long as he was allowed to as well.

Kagome woke the next morning, ready for a day of whatever would come. She showered, dressed in a silk tank top with a built in bra that had a slit up the right side and the left as well, going half way up the tank top. Sprawled across the chest of the tank top were the words 'You like..?' in black and she wore a black silk skirt that would create a 360 degree circle if she spun around. The skirt stopped four inches above her knees. She wore plain black sandals. This was her rebellion to her mother. She refused to wear the uniform like a good little girl would. She left her hair down.

Yusuke, for once, was up and waiting for her after she'd finished putting on a light pink eye shadow and clear lip-gloss. She smiled innocently when he gave her a once-over. She knew he was curious as to why she wasn't wearing the school outfit when she had it. She decided to explain.

"My mother expects me to behave. I don't exactly intend to be a mindless drone. Besides, with you as a cousin, I will have standards to hold up to, won't I?"

Yusuke grinned broadly. "Well, I can't have you spoiling my rep."

"And I wouldn't think of doing such. So are you going to join class today?"

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Probably not."

"My dear cousin," Kagome said, shouldering her backpack and then linking her arm through his and dragging him to the door, "if you don't, I'll be forced to tell Keiko. I'm sure she won't be too happy to know you're skipping."

Yusuke put on a pouty face. "You wouldn't dare."

Kagome locked the door and shut it behind them, one arm still linked through his. "Oh, I would dare. I certainly would dare."

Yusuke groaned at the thought of Keiko reprimanding him for skipping class. "But I don't want to go to class..." He whined. "It's boring..."

Kagome giggled. "You might learn something if you go." She told him. "Besides, Keiko would like it if you started showing an interest in your future."

They reached the school; Kagome still had her arm linked through Yusuke's. She released him and the two walked towards their class.

At lunchtime, Haru and Sheena called her over to their lunch table and she sat with them, receiving a groping because the only place left at the table was between Haru and another boy who looked at Sheena and Haru with disgust. He seemed to be a rather stuffy type of person.

"Haru, would you remove your hand from my behind?" Kagome asked, an angry tick appearing above her left eye.

Haru grinned. "But my hand likes your behind." He told her. "And by the way, yes I do like!" He said, waving to her shirt.

Kagome looked at it, and saw it said 'you like..?' on it. She blushed and slapped Haru for looking. "You're not supposed to answer a question like that!" she said, embarrassed.

Sheena laughed, munching on her sub sandwich. "Haru, you never learn, do you?" She asked. "Get a girlfriend."

"I'm working on it."

"It might work better if you didn't grope people all the time." Kagome pointed out. "I've only known you for a day, and already I know you do this."

Haru shrugged and stole one of Kagome's curly fries, since his were gone. "Actually my eyes are set on a particular new girl to this school." Haru said, looking at Kagome meaningfully.

Kagome blushed at the statement, knowing he was talking about her.

Sheena grinned. "So, Haru, tell me about this new girl. What's she like?"

Kagome blushed further as Haru spoke. "She's beautiful. No, beautiful doesn't even describe her. She's gorgeous! She's a goddess above goddesses. She's got a firm stomach, perfectly toned legs," At this, Haru's hand moved under the table to rest on Kagome's thigh, a grin on his face as she slapped his hand away, "She's got chocolate brown eyes, a firm ass, and a smile that makes me go all wobbly-kneed. I met her yesterday and I fell seriously infatuated, and she's sitting next to me."

Kagome was as red as a tomato when he finished. Even though he was a lech, he certainly knew how to make a girl feel good about herself.

Sheena grinned. "Haru, you're embarrassing her!" She laughed.

"Are you still coming for dinner tonight?" Haru asked. "Please come for dinner! Please, please?" Haru gave her puppy dog eyes, taking her hand in his and kissing her fingertips.

Kagome sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll come. I don't know about Yusuke and Keiko though."

Haru slung an arm around her shoulders, groping her breast while stealing a curly fry. "No problem. Sheena's just seriously infatuated with Yusuke is all. She's also got this thing for that Minamino boy. He's one of Yusuke's friends."

"Haru, you said you wouldn't tell!" Sheena cried.

"I lied. Besides, Kagome won't tell, will you?" Haru eyed Kagome, who was unnaturally quiet with a strange smile on her face as she looked at Sheena.

"Suichi Minamino comes to Yusuke's house at night... you never know what might slip in a game of Truth or Dare..." Kagome murmured.

Haru smirked. "Ooh, too bad for you, Sheena!" Haru cackled gleefully.

After lunch, the three went to their classes, and then after school Haru and Sheena walked with Kagome towards their house.

"I'm nervous." Kagome admitted as they approached the large complex that housed Kagome's apartment. Kagome was surprised that Haru and Sheena lived in the same apartment complex that she did, but as they had said, it is a small world after all. "I don't want to make the wrong impression or anything, you know?" She ran her hand through her long raven locks again. She seemed to be doing that a lot these days.

Haru smiled at her. "Don't worry. Dad, Mom, and uncle and his fiancée'll all love you. You've got nothing to worry about."

Sheena grinned, throwing an arm around Kagome's shoulders. "And you'll get to see our new baby brother!" She said leading Kagome out of the elevator. Haru opened the door to the apartment, heading in before Sheena and Kagome. They were on the fiftieth floor.

"DAD! MOM! UNCLE INU! AUNT MARON! WE'RE HOME!" Haru yelled. "KAGOME IS WITH US! YOU SAID WE COULD BRING HER FOR SUPPER!"

Sheena let go of Kagome and closed the apartment door behind the two of them. "Kag, take your shoes off here." Kagome did as asked, taking her shoes off by the door and setting them neatly by Sheena's. Haru threw his over towards Sheena's and rushed towards one of the doors off the front room, opening it and peering in, then blushing and slamming the door shut.

"Uncle Inu and Aunt Maron are busy..." He explained.

Sheena laughed, going over to the door and knocking politely. "Uncle Inu, Aunt Maron, anytime you feel like finishing, you can come out and meet our new friend."

The door opened to show an irritated young woman, looking about twenty five years old. She wore a peach dress that was strapless and went down to her knees and had short black hair. She wore no make up, but she didn't really need it. She had blue-violet eyes and full pink lips, long lashes and a perfectly manicured brow. She had curves all in the right places and long clean shaven legs. Her toenails were painted a soft pink and so were her fingernails. She first slapped Haru upside the back of the head and then Sheena in the same fashion.

"Both of you, enough! For one, Sheena, you should not even fall for such a trick! Your uncle is in the bathroom! And you," She said, rounding on Haru, "stop your yelling! You're told every day not to yell. We do have neighbors you know! And you should know by now that your father does not come home until after you do." Kagome guessed this was Maron. Maron turned towards Kagome, who still stood by the door. She walked quickly across the room and extended a hand towards Kagome. "And you must be Kagome. I've heard so much about you from the twins." She said in a pleasant tone. "I'm Maron Ushiki, their uncle's fiancée."

Kagome smiled and took the proffered hand. "I'm Kagome Higurashi." She said, relaxing. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad after all. She could distinctly tell though, that Maron was a half-breed dog demon. But she had not acted aggressive towards Kagome, so things would be all right.

"Haru certainly holds you in a high fashion." Maron said with a smile. She let go of Kagome's hand and walked over to the couch in the living room. "Make yourself at home, Kagome. Haru, Sheena, your mother is in her room with the baby. Go introduce yourself."

Haru and Sheena rushed towards another door and inside it as quickly as their feet would carry them. Unsure of what else to do, Kagome stood in the doorway still, wishing she could think of a reason to leave. Her mind searched through all the possible reasons for leaving. 'I forgot to turn the oven off.' Lame. She hadn't even been home yet. 'I think I hear my mother calling.' Even lamer. Her mother was miles away.

"Kagome, please, come sit down." Maron said, patting the couch beside her. Kagome's feet carried her unwittingly towards the couch and sat her down beside Maron. "So, Kagome, did you just move to this school district?" Maron questioned, looking at Kagome.

"Uh huh... I'm living with my aunt and cousin, five floors down."

Maron nodded. "I see. So what about your mother and father? Where are they?"

Kagome frowned. "You could say I'm taking a forced vacation from my mother. My father ran off when my younger brother was born."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Kagome smiled. "I'm not. I never knew the guy."

It was at that moment that Haru and Sheena came into the room, Sheena carrying a 'little bundle of joy' wrapped in a blue baby blanket. "Check it out, Kagome! He's got some funky eyes!" Sheena said.

Kagome stood and went to look at the baby. She found herself looking at a child who looked something like Sesshoumaru from the past. He had golden eyes, slightly pointed and angled elfish ears, and she noticed that his fingernails were a bit more claw like than a normal child's. She noticed that the child was not completely demon, but wasn't exactly a 50/50 half breed either. He seemed more like a 75/25 half breed, 25 being the human in him.

"Cute baby." She said with a smile. "You just wait though. Once they begin to crawl, you'll find you have your hands full."

"Ah, yeah, that's why he's mom's problem." Sheena said with a grin.

"Maron, where is my tooth brush!" A distressed call came from the back of the apartment. Kagome gasped at the familiar voice. 'Inuyasha is here? Why would he be here?' She wondered. 'I thought he was waiting for me at the shrine? And how would he know these people?'

Maron made a goofy face at Haru and Sheena as they snickered at her. "Honey, it is probably in the medicine cabinet with everything else!" She called out.

"I reorganized the cupboards, Inuyasha." A voice said from behind Kagome. Kagome turned to be faced with none other than Kagura, except instead of red eyes she had dark chocolate brown eyes. Kagome blinked her surprise. She was too surprised to be frightened. Kagura wore a blue silk skirt and blue silk tee-dress shirt. "The toothbrushes are in a glass on the sink. Only an idiot like you could miss it." She muttered the last part thoughtfully.

"HEY! I heard that!" Inuyasha yelled. "Don't push your luck, Kagura! I'm not in a very good mood right now!"

Kagura chuckled. "Aww, poor baby. Do you want a lolly pop? I'm sure it will make you feel better." She asked, sitting on the couch next to Maron.

"Who pays the bills here? ME!" Inuyasha yelled. "So leave me alone!" He whined the last part.

Maron and Kagura broke into a fit of giggles at the sound of his voice.

Kagome stood there, confused. Kagura was living semi-peacefully in a house with Inuyasha? There was something seriously wrong with this picture. Perhaps she was wrong and it wasn't her Inuyasha. But it was proved to be her Inuyasha when Inuyasha walked out of the bathroom and into the main room, brushing his teeth. His hair was dyed black and cut in a short bowl cut at the top of his head and his eyes were chocolate brown, and he was suspiciously missing the ears on top of his head, probably due to the fact that he had a bandana on his head which could likely be holding them down, but it seemed unmistakably him. He wore the rosary necklace around his neck and was wearing a plain white polo shirt with gray slacks.

"By bummy bays da biews, fo weab be abome, otay?" He said through a mouth full of toothpaste.

"Uncle Inu, don't talk with your mouth full of toothpaste around me!" Haru complained. "You're spitting it all over the place!" He wiped his face for effect, though nothing was there.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and went back into the bathroom, coming out a moment later without a toothbrush. "Okay, I'm off to..." He trailed off, noticing Kagome for the first time. For a second he was frozen to the spot, but then a wide grin spread across his face and he crossed the room, grabbing Kagome into a hug. "Wow! You're alive! I thought you died!" He began jabbering excitedly.

Kagura blinked and looked closer at Kagome, noticing something she hadn't seen before. "Oh my god! It's you!" She got up and peeled Kagome away from Inuyasha's death hug only to catch Kagome in one of her own. "Thank you so much! I owe you everything! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"

Haru, Sheena, and Maron looked at the three confused. "Oookay, did I miss something here?" Haru voiced the three's thoughts.

Seconds later, a fourth party person exited a room to see what the commotion was only to have his eyes widen and he briskly crossed the room to see if it was true. "But your dead! How are you here!" Sesshoumaru cried out. He had brown eyes and black hair now, cut to midback and held in a low tie at the nape of his neck. Kagome could see his markings faintly, but they seemed to be covered up by some magic of some sort.

"We must be missing something..." Sheena voiced the three's thoughts this time.

Frustrated by the attention, Kagome scowled and spread her arms out from her body, her power going into it. The three excited demons jumped back as a fiery barricade, invisible to the human eye, was erected. "Enough!" Kagome yelled.

Maron, who could see the barrier, opened her eyes wide. "Okay, I know we're missing something now."

Kagome knew she was had thrown out more power than she needed, but she'd just felt so claustrophobic at that moment. She toned it down to a lower level so she was still able to hide her miko aura, putting her arms to her sides again. She looked at the three, confusion apparent on her face.

She soon figured out that she was rambling off incoherent questions without her realizing it and closed her mouth with a snap. Silence in ensued for a moment but Sheena broke it.

"Um, dad, mom, Uncle Inu, how exactly do you know Kagome?"

Sesshoumaru looked at Sheena and Haru, who's eyes were begging for an answer, but he didn't know what to say. He couldn't exactly say 'Oh, five hundred years ago I was a blood thirsty demon lord and I tried to kill her several times over a sword.'

Inuyasha and Kagura didn't know the answer to that question either. Their lips were flapping but no sound emerged.

Kagome, somewhat used to strange questions like that by now jumped in to answer the question, flashing a bright smile towards Sheena and Haru. "Oh, it's a long story, but to make it quick and to the point, I met Inuyasha on a field trip I had taken, and Sesshoumaru and Kagura were there as well." She said in a tone of finality.

Sheena and Haru looked convinced, but Maron looked suspicious. "What kind of field trip?" She asked. Again, lips flapped like birds wings.

'Do I have to do everything?' Kagome wondered, but kept that smile in place. She quickly thought of something to improvise and then saw embroidered on Inuyasha's polo was the words 'Matenkashi Corporation'. She made a wild guess that that was where Inuyasha worked. "My family lives on a shrine and we often take 'educational field trips' to different places. This one took us to Matenkashi Corporation about five years ago."

Maron had yet to meet Inuyasha five years ago. She'd only met him three years ago, so she figured this could be very well true and let it drop, flashing Inuyasha a broad smile. He gave her a nervous laugh. "Eh hehe, yeah. That's how it was."

Kagome congratulated herself on her extraordinary improvising skills. 'Perhaps I should be an actor...' She thought.

"Ah, well then... shall we go to dinner?" Sesshoumaru asked, doing his best to keep his nerves down as he felt and saw Kagome dissipate her barrier.

Kagome shook her head then as she felt something the others did not. "Actually, I'm really sorry Sheena and Haru, but I have to be going."

Sheena looked at the clock and saw that it was six o'clock somehow already. "Aw man! Well, come back okay?"

Kagome nodded. "I will, and thank you for the invitation." She glanced one last time at the three familiar people who surrounded her and then with a small smile at them, she headed for her shoes, slipping the sandals on and briskly leaving the apartment. She pressed the down button for the elevator as Inuyasha exited the apartment and followed her into the elevator.

As the elevator doors slid shut and Kagome pressed for the 45th floor, Inuyasha pressed for the lobby. Inuyasha stared at Kagome wide eyed in amazement. Kagome sighed. "Great, just great. You know this is going to cause problems right?" She asked him.

"How so?" He asked.

"Because, you idiot!" She yelled. "You're coming here! I mean, you're past self is! And I would say it would be very awkward if you met your past self, wouldn't you?"

Inuyasha sighed and looked down. "Okay, you're forgetting something though. I've already lived this, and so for me the awkward time is already past. I met myself," He got a thoughtful look on his face, holding his briefcase in his hand, "tried to kill myself, which was really weird, and then got sat. Twice at the same time." He scrunched his face up in concentration, as though trying to remember far back in time. "I mean to say that you said sit to try to stop me from killing me but both of me received the subduing spell. Gah! I'm confusing myself."

Kagome sighed as the elevator opened on her floor. "I suppose this means I never really had a chance with you, huh?" She asked quietly.

He looked confused. "What?"

"You're getting married to the other half-breed, aren't you? Congratulations." She said, faking a smile. She left the elevator just before the doors could close, hiding her tears behind her bangs.

Two days later

She could feel her Shikon shards being moved so she hurried to her Aunt's apartment and into her room to see Inuyasha sitting, looking almost exactly like she had seen him two days before except he was wearing his clothes of the fire rat and his sword was strapped to his side, on her bed placing a loose shard into the container filled with them. Kagome blinked, looking from him, to his haircut, to his now brown eyes, back to his now black hair, and then she fainted. She had no clue why, considering she should have seen this coming, what with all the surprises she seemed to be having lately.

Inuyasha hurried to catch her, but he tripped and stumbled so didn't make it in time. "Oomph!" The bandana fell off his head and he couldn't get it back on so he gave up trying.

Moments later Kagome woke up in her bed, confused when she saw Inuyasha staring down at her. She saw his ears twitch irritatedly. He sat next to her prone form on the bed, staring down at her with all his might as though he could burn a hole in her with his eyes. Which thankfully he couldn't.

"Why are you here?" Kagome asked him.

"Because I'm going to take you back right now." He said as though it should be obvious to her. "And why the hell do you smell like me, Sesshoumaru, and Kagura all at once?" He demanded.

Kagome groaned and pulled the pillow over her head. Her words were muffled by the pillow. Inuyasha snatched away the pillow and glared down at her. "Explain to me now!" He yelled.

"Because"

A door slamming and the sound of voices in the living room interrupted her. "Alright already, I get it! Now would you shut UP Botan? It's bad enough I get it from Koenma! I don't want to hear it from you too!"

Inuyasha sniffed the air. "Kagome, there are a group of humans and demons in your house... stay back. I'll"

Kagome rolled her eyes, grabbing his arm before he could go anywhere. "They're good guys." She told him. "Just leave them be."

Inuyasha deadpanned. "Why!" He said, still moving to get up.

"Because if you don't I'll sit" Kagome said before realizing her mistake. That sit brought him crashing down towards her, his lips somehow by some odd fate connecting with hers and somehow he ended up half straddling her. Just then, the sun decided to set and because it was the night of the new moon, Inuyasha's ears disappeared into human ears, his claws were gone, his canines just ordinary, and his eyes were naturally chocolate brown.

Then, fate decided to be eternally cruel and bring Yusuke and his friends to investigate the noise. They opened Kagome's door to see Kagome in this position with Inuyasha and all were in varying states of shock.

Yusuke was in by far the worst state of shock known to man. His eyes were bugging out and he was making tiny choking noises. Finally he came out of it and yelled angrily, "Get off'a my cousin!"

Kagome and Inuyasha were both in shock as well, staring deep into each other's eyes, blushes on both party's cheeks. They knew full well that the spell lasted sixty seconds, no more no less, and it would be sixty seconds before either could move, the spell holding each firmly in place.

When the agonizingly long sixty seconds was up, Inuyasha jumped off of Kagome, making 'petewy' sounds as he wiped his lips on his sleeve. "God, wench, you did that on purpose!"

Kagome sat up angrily. "I did not!"

"You did to!"

Yusuke, standing slightly off to the side with Hiei, Botan, and Kurama, looked confused. "Did we miss something?" He asked.

"How could I purposely make you 'sit' like that?" She demanded hotly.

The rosary around Inuyasha's neck glowed and he found his face in the ground. He mumbled into the carpet, glaring up at Kagome.

"You know what? For that, SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT!" The rosary glowed eight times and he found himself waiting there in the carpet for nine minutes while Kagome crossed her arms and waited, glaring down at him.

"I think we missed something." Botan said.

"Indeed." Kurama agreed.

At the end of the nine minutes Inuyasha jumped up angrily, pulling at the rosary on his neck. "Just take it off! It's the source of every last problem that we have!"

Kagome snorted, very unladylike. "It's the source of all YOUR problems, but the ANSWER to all MY problems." She told him. She then realized that there were others in the room and turned towards her cousin, blushing, embarrassed. 'When did they get there?' She wondered. "WHAT!" She yelled.

Kurama pointed to the jar of Shards on the bed. "Are those Shikon shards?"

Inuyasha stood angrily, staring at Kurama. "Yeah, but you aren't going to touch them!"

Kagome slapped her forehead with her palm. "God, I'm surrounded by arrogant demons." She muttered. "Everyone thinks they know everything!"

Kagome sat on her bed, taking up the jar of shards. "Okay, now you can settle down Inuyasha. I have the shards."

Yusuke was looking at a picture and then at Inuyasha for a moment, but then he pocketed the picture and shrugged. 'Not him, though the resemblance is striking.'

Inuyasha grumbled about it but sat on the floor by the bed, right next to where Kagome sat, his eyes angrily fixed on the group at the door.

Kagome sighed and fell back on her bed. "You can all leave now." She told them, staring at the ceiling.

Yusuke narrowed his eyes, looking from Kagome to Inuyasha and back again. Finally he left. Kurama and Botan followed. At some point in the whole argument, Hiei had already left. Botan closed the door behind her.

"Sorry, Kagome." Inuyasha muttered, resting his head against the side of her knee.

Kagome giggled. "It was actually funny." She said. "It was completely accidental."

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose up in distaste. "Great sense of humor you have, Kagome."

Kagome sighed. "Well, I'm sorry if you don't find it funny. But I do."

Inuyasha climbed up on the bed, collapsing next to her. "Talk to me." He half-heartedly demanded.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I don't know. I just want you to talk to me."

Kagome smiled and nodded. "Alright then. You're getting married in my time. You lived this long, and you're getting married to a half-breed dog demon like yourself. You seem to be friends with Sesshoumaru, and Sesshoumaru has a child with Kagura and is married to her and adopted two human children."

Inuyasha lifted his head from the bed to look at Kagome's face, trying to tell if she was joking or not. He only saw a serious expression, but he still couldn't believe it. 'I'm not with Kagome?' He wondered, horrified.

"Sesshoumaru lives five floors up on this building. You work for a big company, Sesshoumaru is a teacher, and you rent the apartment that you, Sesshoumaru, Kagura, Sesshoumaru's son, Sesshoumaru's adopted kids, and your fiancée live in. Rather than Sesshoumaru having all the glory, you're the one with it."

'...I'm the one with the glory? Me?' Inuyasha thought incredulously.

"And you're getting married." Kagome whispered. She looked at Inuyasha's profile to try to gauge his reaction, but she only saw shock. Slowly that shock began to melt into hurt.

"Why am I not marrying you?" He whispered, his bangs hiding his expression.

Kagome shrugged. She didn't know the answer to that. She wished it were her, but it wasn't. It was Maron.

But then she remembered what they all said, or unconsciously hinted at. 'But you're dead! You died! I thought you were dead!'

A tear slipped down Kagome's face. "I think I die."

Inuyasha sat up angrily. "You won't die! I won't let you. I said I would protect you..."

Kagome smiled and sat up as well. "Well, who knows. We're not there yet. When we get there, we'll find out whether or not" Kagome was cut off when Inuyasha caught her in a kiss.

When he broke it, he looked her deep in the eyes. "I promise you, I will NOT let you die!" 'I love you too much to let you die.' He thought, wishing he had the guts to say it.

Kagome blushed as her mind registered the kiss finally. Shortly after her mind processed what he had said and her blush deepened. "Thank you." She said. 'Oh my god! Inuyasha and I kissed!' She thought.

The phone rang so Kagome answered it. "Hello?" She asked.

_"Kag! It's me, Sheena! You said you live five floors down, right? Well, can Haru and I come over? We don't want to go to a baby sitters house." _

_"PWEESE, Kagome?" _Haru asked.

Kagome laughed. "Okay, sure. My cousin's friends are over, so we'll probably play a game or something."

_"Yes! Thanks! We'll be down in a second!" _Sheena yelled excitedly. Kagome hung up when she realized that Sheena had done so already. Inuyasha smiled faintly at her and she ducked her head.

Yusuke didn't like it. He didn't like the behavior at all. "Hey, you!"

* * *

**This will not be added to! This is the last chapter! Like I said, it was the first attempt at the story Tie Me to the Future. If you want the full version, go to Tie Me to the Future. It's obviously in my profile. **


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